DATE  DUE 

UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 

AT 

AMHERST 


m 


F 

74 

5735 
E2 


In  Old  South  Radley 


By  Sophie  E.  Eastman 


//  so  men's  memories  not  thy  monument  be, 
Thou  shah  hate  none.     Warm  hearts, 
And  not  cold  stone  must  mar^  thy  grave. 
Or  thou  shah  lie  unknown. 

— John  Vance  Cheney. 


The  Blakely  Printing  Company,  Chicago 


F 


Copyright,  1912, 

By 

SOPHIE  E.  EASTMAN 


To  my  sister,  who  has  been  my  help 
and  inspiration  in  collecting  materials 
for  the  present  volume,  and  whose  pa- 
tient research  has  made  possible  the 
verification  of  its  facts,  this  book  ^s 
affectionately  dedicated. 

For  the  assistance  rendered  by  Mr. 
A.  W.  Fiske,  and  other  kind  friends,  in 
looking  up  ancient  records  and  in  re- 
calling past  events,  they  merit  and  re- 
ceive my  sincere  gratitude. 


^T^HIS  volume  does  not  assume  to  be,  in  any 
sense,  a  history.  The  author  has  merely 
tried  to  gather  up  and  preserve  some  of  the  facts 
and  incidents  connected  with  the  Early  Life  of  our 
town.  This  information  was  derived,  in  a  great 
measure,  from  old  Letters  and  Diaries;  Account 
Books  ranging  from  1732  to  1820;  Town,  Church 
and  State  Records;  Ancient  Deeds,  Wills  and 
Inventories,  and  the  too -of ten- for  gotten  Proprie- 
tor's Book. 

The  truth  of  every  statement  has  been  care- 
fully sifted,  and  some  old  manuscripts  recently 
brought  to  light  have  yielded  new  and  interesting 
facts.  It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  many  items 
which  might  have  been  of  interest  have  necessarily 
been  omitted  for  the  lack  of  space. 


CHAPTER    INDEX 

Page 

CHAPTEE  FIRST 

The  Origin  of  the  Town 1 

CHAPTEE  SECOND 
Early  Life  in  South  Hadley 21 

CHAPTEE  THIED 
Early  Life  in  South  Hadley   (Concluded) 35 

CHAPTEE  FOUETH 
From  Dame  School  to  College 43 

CHAPTEE  FIFTH 
From  Dame  School  to  College  (Concluded) 70 

CHAPTEE    SIXTH 
The  Evolution  of  a  Church 94 

CHAPTEE  SEVENTH 
The  Indians 221 

CHAPTEE  EIGHTH 
South  Hadley  in  the  Eevolution 13g 

CHAPTEE  NINTH 
South  Hadley  After  the  Eevolution 165 

CHAPTEE  TENTH 
In  the  Chimney  Comer 136 

CHAPTEE  ELEVENTH 
South  Hadley  Falls 201 


INDEX  TO  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

South  Hadley  in  1750 Frontispiece 

The  Angel  of  Hadley,  1675 6 

In  the  Bow  of  Stony  Brook 10 

Present  View  from  "Bare  Hill" 12 

Husking  for  a  Neighbor 18 

"The  Place  of  General  Resort" 22 

The  Noontide  Meal 26 

Reading  the  Bible  to  the  Haymakers 28 

The  Gaylord  Library 32 

The  Pump 38 

The  Old  Oaken  Bucket 40 

The  Rudiments  of  Arithmetic 50 

Teaching  Arithmetic 54 

Woodbridge  School 70 

Autograph  of  Mary  Lyon 76 

Third    Parsonage 78 

Prospect  Hill 82 

Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary,  the  Original  Building 84 

The  Domestic  Hall 86 

Seminary  and  College  Building,  Destroyed  by  Fire,  September,  1896 88 

Mary  Lyon's  Grave 92 

The  First  Parsonage , 96 

Rev.  John  Woodbridge 108 

Brick  Oven 110 

Second  Meeting  House 116 

Third  Meeting  House 118 

The  Oxbow 122 

Island  in  the  Connecticut 124 

The  Granby  Church 128 

The  Drive 134 

Col.  Ruggles  Woodbridge 140 

The  Second  Parsonage 146 

Lake  Nonotuck,  South  Hadley 154 

The   Grove 164 

South  Hadley  in  1850 170 

Doctor  Dwight's  House 176 

College  Street 180 

Fourth  Meeting  House,  Destroyed  by  Fire,  1895 184 

Ferry  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Holyoke 188 

The  First  Meeting  House,  Now  Used  as  a  Dwelling 190 

The  First  Mountain  House  on  Mount  Holyoke 194 

"The  Old  Sleigh" 196 

Pass  of  Thermopylae 198 

The  Franklin  Stove 198 

Drawing  in  the  Back-log 200 

The  Canal  Village 202 

Decoration  Day  at  South  Hadley  Falls 220 

The  Present  Million-Dollar  Dam 214 

The  Carew  Mill 216 


IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

BY  SOPHIE  E.  EASTMAN 


CHAPTER  FIRST 

THE   OKIGIN   OF   THE   TOWN 

CAESAR 'S  reply,  when  questioned  in  regard  to  his  lineage, 
'T  commence  an  ancestry,"  might  well  have  been  echoed 
by  the  pioneers  of  Hadley.  Most  of  them  were  fugitives 
from  England,  fleeing  to  this  country  in  order  to  escape  the 
persecution  of  Archbishop  Laud.  They  had  seen  their  friends 
imprisoned  and  publicly  whipped  in  the  market-place  simply 
for  seeking  a  higher  standard  of  purity  in  the  church. 

Part  of  them  came  in  1632  in  the  good  ship  Lyon.  They 
were  four  weeks  in  fighting  their  way  from  London  to  Lands 
End,  and  two  months  more  in  crossing  the  stormy  Atlantic. 
For  five  days  they  were  enveloped  in  a  dense  fog,  not  daring 
to  move  in  either  direction;  a  weary  time  for  the  sixteen  chil- 
dren and  their  seventy-three  elders,  who  clustered  despairingly 
about  the  deck.  But  happily  they  escaped  disaster.  The  most 
notable  among  the  passengers  was  William  Goodwin,  a  man 
destined  to  become  of  such  influence  in  both  church  and  state 
that  the  town  still  delights  to  do  him  honor. 

During  the  following  year  more  of  Hadley 's  early  settlers 
came  over  in  the  Griffin,  and  the  tedium  of  the  two  months '  voy- 
age was  beguiled  by  listening  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  ser- 
mons, two  being  preached  on  each  week-day  and  three  on  Sun- 
day. 

Among  the  passengers  were  three  divines,  eminent  both 
for  learning  and  piety — the  Rev.  John  Cotton,  Thomas  Hooker, 
and  Samuel  Stone.  Only  the  latter,  however,  dared  to  show 
himself  on  deck  until  they  were  well  out  at  sea. 

The  sailors  did  not  enjoy  this  constant  sermonizing,  and 


2  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

sneeringly  asked,  ''When  shall  we  come  to  ye  Holie  Land?" 
And  when  the  ministers  sought  to  buy  provisions,  they  replied, 
''Ye  are  so  full  of  the  spirit,  ye  need  nothing  more." 

But  religion  was  not  the  only  topic  on  which  they  con- 
versed. In  the  joy  of  escape  they  became  even  humorous,  and 
actually  ventured  upon  a  witticism  in  regard  to  the  three  min- 
isters on  board.  A  hooker  was  a  small  fishing  boat  still  in  use  at 
the  Orkneys,  and  some  facetious  passenger  gave  out  that  they 
were  well  provided  for,  having  Cotton  for  their  clothing.  Stone 
for  their  building,  and  a  Hooker  for  their  fishing. 

A  majority  of  the  company  settled  at  Cambridge,  then 
called  New  Town,  but  two  years  later  jealousies  and  animosities 
sprang  up  between  this  place  and  Boston,  and  under  the  slender 
pretext  that  they  were  straitened  for  want  of  land,  they  asked 
of  the  General  Court  permission  to  remove  to  Hartford,  Conn. 

On  May  31,  1636,  fivescore  persons,  including  Rev.  Thomas 
Hooker  and  Rev.  Samuel  Stone,  set  forth  on  their  perilous  jour- 
ney through  pathless  woods,  with  only  a  compass  and  a  few  ob- 
scure Indian  trails  to  guide  them. 

In  Hartford  and  adjoining  towns  they  soon  found  homes, 
and  for  many  years  lived  peacefully  and  prosperously.  So  close 
was  the  friendship  between  William  Goodwin  and  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Stone  that  both  before  and  after  this  journey  their  houses  were 
built  side  by  side.  But  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Hooker,  Mr.  Good- 
win and  his  pastor  became  alienated  and  even  embittered  against 
one  another.  Nearly  all  of  the  Massachusetts  Colonists  were 
church  members  and  their  children  had  been  baptized  into  the 
same  faith.  Some  of  their  sons  had  grown  to  manhood  without 
making  a  public  profession  of  religion,  though  leading  exem- 
plary lives.  These  persons  found  themselves  deprived  of  the 
right  to  vote  in  town  meeting,  denied  the  ordinance  of  baptism 
for  their  children,  and  debarred  from  having  any  voice  in  the 
selection  of  a  minister.  This  roused  their  indignation,  and  a 
great  wave  of  dissatisfaction  arose  in  the  Hartford  Church, 
spreading  in  ever  widening  ripples  until  the  whole  country  was 
a  sea  of  discontent.  Some  even  went  so  far  as  to  propose  that 
all  men  whose  lives  were  of  good  report  should  be  allowed  to 


THE  OEIGIN"  OF  THE  TOWN"  3 

partake  of  the  communion.    Councils  were  held,  but  nothing  de- 
cisive was  accomplished. 

Elder  Goodwin  bitterly  opposed  the  agitation  of  this  ques- 
tion. It  seemed  to  him  like  breaking  down  the  gates  into  the 
fold,  and  a  large  minority  of  the  church  sympathized  with  him. 
Not  so  the  pastor,  Rev.  Mr.  Stone.  He  had  always  been  less 
rigid  in  his  views  than  many  of  his  brethren,  and  had  often  dis- 
turbed good  Mr.  Hooker  by  his  habit  of  smoking,  his  liberal  ideas 
of  orthodoxy,  and  other  such  matters.  So  now  he  gave  his  hearty 
assent  to  the  Halfway  Covenant,  as  it  was  termed,  which  had 
been  approved  by  the  council  at  Boston  in  1657.  This  council 
decreed  that  non-church  members  who  owned  the  covenant,  and 
had  nothing  scandalous  in  their  lives,  should  not  be  denied  the 
rite  of  baptism  for  their  children;  but  this  did  not  give  them 
the  privilege  of  partaking  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

The  intrusion  of  this  article  of  belief  among  the  inhabitants 
of  South  Hadley,  about  eighty  years  later,  was  the  occasion  of 
a  violent  religious  quarrel,  rending  the  church,  and  ending  in 
the  expulsion  of  the  town's  first  minister.  Rev.  Grindal  Rawson. 

Feeling  ran  so  high  that  Elder  Goodwin  determined  to  with- 
draw, with  his  followers,  from  the  Hartford  Church,  and  to  re- 
turn to  what  he  called  ''Ye  pious  and  Godly  government  of 
Massachusetts  Bay." 

Rev.  John  Russell,  of  Wethersfield,  and  most  of  his  congre- 
gation, were  in  unison  with  Mr.  Goodwin,  and  joined  in  his  plan 
of  removal  to  Norwottuck,  the  present  town  of  Hadley.  Of 
the  pilgrimage  thither,  we  know  but  little ;  we  hear  of  an  accom- 
plished journey,  but  none  of  its  details.  Yet  it  must  have  been 
an  arduous  undertaking.  It  may  be  that  by  day  the  October 
sunshine  filtered  through  the  crimson  and  golden  leaves,  mak- 
ing a  glory  about  their  heads ;  but  the  nights  were  chill,  and  the 
bear,  the  wolf,  and  the  catamount  were  always  out  watching 
for  their  prey  in  the  far-reaching  forests. 

No  sooner  had  they  arrived  at  their  destination  than'  the 
woods  rang  with  the  sound  of  their  axes,  and  the  work  of  build- 
ing went  rapidly  on. 

The  history  of  Hadley  from  this  time  onward  has  been  so 


4  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

minutely  and  accurately  told  by  the  late  Sylvester  Judd  that  no 
other  hand  is  needed  to  bridge  the  gulf  between  the  centuries. 

One  incident  that  he  relates  finds  confirmation  among  the 
descendants  of  Lieut.  Samuel  Smith,  Peter  Tilton,  Timothy 
Nash,  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  and  Elder  John  White.  Many  of 
their  descendants  are  still  living  in  South  Hadley  and  Granby, 
and  five  of  them  have  made  affidavit  in  the  presence  of  a  Notary 
Public  to  the  fact  that  the  following  story  had  been  handed  down 
in  their  families,  from  father  to  son,  for  over  two  hundred  years. 

Few  events  in  the  history  of  Hadley  have  excited  such  uni- 
versal interest  as  the  long  concealment  of  the  regicides  by  Eev. 
John  Eussell,  assisted  by  Lieut.  Samuel  Smith  and  the  Hon. 
Peter  Tilton,  and  the  unlooked-for  aid  of  General  Goife  in 
repelling  an  Indian  attack.  The  story  is  too  widely  known  to 
need  more  than  a  brief  repetition. 

General  Whalley  and  his  son-in-law.  General  Goffe,  were 
two  of  the  judges  who  had  condemned  Charles  I  of  England  to 
death.  Upon  the  accession  of  his  son  to  the  throne,  a  price  was 
set  upon  their  heads,  and  they  were  obliged  to  flee  to  America. 
Here,  being  closely  pursued,  they  were  compelled  to  hide  in 
cave,  ravine  or  forest,  finally  finding  a  refuge  in  a  well-con- 
trived chamber  in  the  minister's  house  at  Hadley. 

Some  of  the  carpenters  of  that  day  had  evidently  learned, 
during  the  persecutions  in  England,  the  art  of  concealment,  for 
this  room  gave  access  to  the  cellar,  probably  by  means  of  a  slid- 
ing panel,  such  as  was  found  in  demolishing  an  old  house  in  an- 
other part  of  the  town,  and  which  dated  back  to  the  same  period. 

During  King  Philip's  war,  the  towns  which  lay  upon  the 
outskirts  of  civilization  were  in  constant  and  extreme  danger 
from  roving  bands  of  Indians.  Hadley  was  peculiarly  defence- 
less-, not  only  as  a  frontier  town,  but  because  the  Connecticut 
Biver  afforded  such  a  swift  and  silent  path  of  approach  for 
Indian  canoes.  Each  day  seemed  a  terror,  each  night  a  men- 
ace, and  the  "Holy  text  of  pike  and  gun"  was  in  all  minds. 

The  story  of  General  Goffe 's  appearance  was  often  re- 
lated to  a  resident  of  South  Hadley  by  her  grandmother,  just  as  it 
had  been  told  to  the  latter  by  her  grandfather,  Nathaniel  Dick- 


THE  OEIGIN"  OF  THE  TOWN  5 

in  son,  who  was  living  at  the  time  the  incident  occurred.  Al- 
though but  a  boy,  the  fact  that  his  father  was  slain  by  the  In- 
dians at  about  the  same  time  may  have  impressed  the  events 
01  the  year  upon  his  memory. 

The  minister  at  Hadley,  recognizing  the  great  danger  to 
be  apprehended  from  Indian  invasion,  had  appointed  a  day  of 
fasting  and  prayer,  and  on  this  occasion  every  member  of  Mr. 
Eussell's  household,  excepting  the  two  regicides,  attended  divine 
service  at  the  meeting-house.  This  left  the  two  voluntary  cap- 
tives at  liberty  to  roam  about  the  house  at  pleasure  and  look 
from  the  windows.  General  Goffe,  noting  the  approach  of  the 
Indians,  hastily  descended  to  the  street.  Two  courses  lay  open 
before  him ;  he  would  risk  discovery  if  he  showed  himself  in  the 
town,  and  the  English  government  was  still  searching  for  him, 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  settlers  were  overpowered,  pil- 
lage, fire,  and  massacre  were  sure  to  follow. 

The  Hadley  men  had  no  leader  and  were  beginning  to  waver 
before  the  onslaught  of  their  savage  foes,  when  Goffe,  with  a 
roar  like  that  of  a  wild  beast,  placed  himself  in  the  front  ranks. 
Perhaps  the  old-time  vigor  came  back  for  a  moment;  at  all 
events,  he  rallied  the  men  and  charged  the  Indians  with  such 
power  and  skill  that  they  were  soon  in  full  retreat.  During 
the  pursuit,  Goffe  quietly  slipped  aside  and,  returning  to  the 
house  of  Mr.  Russell,  became  again  a  self-immured  prisoner. 

There  was  much  questioning  after  the  battle  as  to  the  iden- 
tity of  their  unexpected  ally.  The  paleness  engendered  by  years 
of  confinement,  and  perhaps  the  long  and  snowy  beard  (for 
smooth  faces  were  then  coming  into  vogue),  evidently  suggested 
to  some  imaginative  mind  the  idea  that  the  strange  visitor  was 
of  supernatural  origin.  It  was  not  until  after  William  ascended 
the  throne  of  England,  and  the  search  for  the  regicides  ceased, 
that  it  was  considered  safe  to  make  known  the  real  facts  in  the 
case. 

Some  modern  iconoclasts  have  tried  to  wrest  this  incident 
from  the  pages  of  history,  but  with  little  success,  and  genera- 
tions yet  unborn  will  repeat  to  their  children,  and  children's 
children,  the  story  of  Goffe,  the  Angel  who  Saved  the  Town. 


6  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

The  early  settlement  of  South  Hadley  may  be  attributed 
to  the  energy,  courage,  and  perseverance  of  six  persons — Peter, 
William  and  Luke  Montague,  Chileab  Smith,  Jr.,  John  Pres- 
ton, and  Ebenezer  Marsh. 

These  men  were  linked  together,  not  merely  by  the  ties  of 
kindred,  but  by  a  common  hope  and  ambition,  and  the  history  of 
their  enterprise  should  be  preserved  in  picture,  song,  and  story, 
as  long  as  the  town  endures. 

Seventeen  hundred  came  and  went  without  finding,  it  was 
said,  a  single  pauper  in  the  whole  Connecticut  Valley.  But  a 
vague  spirit  of  unrest  had  begun  to  creep  into  the  quiet  town 
of  Hadley.  It  gathered  strength  as  the  years  went  on,  till  we 
find  it  recorded  that  the  young  people  complained  of  being 
straitened  for  the  want  of  room.  Now,  surrounded  as  they 
were  with  the  vast  areas  of  unmapped  country,  and  in  a  vil- 
lage where  many  a  family  owned  hundreds  of  acres  of  untilled 
land,  their  discontent  must  have  referred  to  the  crowded  state 
of  their  households — too  many  families  in  one  dwelling  being 
the  rule. 

Thus,  John  Preston,  Sr.,  married  one  of  four  sisters,  each  of 
whom  brought  her  husband  home  to  live  under  the  paternal 
roof.  And  the  children  of  William  Montague,  whose  relatives 
were  among  the  richest  people  of  the  town,  lived  in  the  same 
house  with  their  uncles,  aunts,  and  cousin,  to  say  nothing  of 
their  father,  mother,  and  grandparents. 

In  order  to  remedy  this  difficulty,  and  possibly  to  gratify 
their  spirit  of  adventure,  certain  men  in  the  community  re- 
solved to  colonize  south  of  Mount  Holyoke. 

The  proposal  aroused  a  fine  commotion  in  the  town.  Peo- 
ple shook  their  heads  and  declared  that  those  sandy  slopes  and 
wooded  intervales  were  incapable  of  cultivation,  generally  end- 
ing with  the  cheerful  forecast  that  their  families  would  cer- 
tainly starve.  The  old  folks,  with  tears  in  their  eyes,  begged 
them  to  give  up  their  mad  plan.  But  nothing  daunted  their 
courage,  for  already  the  very  air  seemed  to  be  electric  with 
the  coming  possibilities  of  the  new  town. 


-    THE  OEIGIN  OF  THE  TOWN  7 

Tradition  tells  us  that  at  last  a  town  meeting  was  called, 
from  which  was  wrung  a  reluctant  consent  to  the  exodus.  But, 
be  this  as  it  may,  we  know  that  in  the  spring  of  1720,  a  day  of 
fasting  and  prayer  was  appointed  from  the  pulpit,  in  order  to 
implore  the  Divine  Blessing  upon  this  hazardous  undertaking. 

Others,  outside  the  list  of  names  previously  mentioned,  had 
at  first  joined  in  the  enterprise,  but  without  a  just  estimate  of 
the  danger,  privation,  and  incessant  labor  that  the  task  involved. 

First  of  all,  roads  must  be  located,  and  within  their  boun- 
daries trees  must  be  felled  and  stumps  uprooted,  in  order  to 
open  even  the  roughest  kind  of  a  cart-track.  After  the  site  of 
a  house  had  been  decided  upon,  ground  must  be  cleared  in  order 
to  give  space  for  working  and  for  the  tent  which  would  be  their 
only  shelter  until  the  roof  was  covered  with  shingles,  which  lat- 
ter must  be  made  by  hand.  Their  tools  were  clumsy  and  often 
dull,  yet  no  scamping  of  their  work  was  tolerated. 

If  the  half-dozen  men,  who  remained  true  to  their  purpose, 
needed  a  Nestor,  they  certainly  found  one  in  the  person  of 
Chileab  Smith,  Sr.,  since  three  of  their  number  were  his  grand- 
sons, a  fourth  was  his  son,  the  fifth  his  granddaughter's  hus- 
band, and  the  sixth  a  brother  of  his  son's  wife. 

The  great  event  of  1720  in  Hadley  was  the  laying  out  of 
home  lots  south  of  Mt.  Holyoke.  For  several  years  this  mat- 
ter had  been  under  discussion  without  reaching  any  definite 
result. 

The  winter  of  1717  had  been  one  of  unexampled  severity. 
Noah  Webster  has  stated  that  at  this  time  there  were  snow- 
drifts from  sixteen  to  eighteen  feet  deep,  so  that  in  order  to 
leave  their  houses  some  persons  were  compelled  to  put  on  snow 
shoes  and  climb  out  of  the  second  story  windows. 

This  fact  may  have  deferred  the  enterprise,  but  three  years 
later  there  still  remained  a  resolute  purpose  to — as  the  old 
records  express  it — ''make  a  village,  or  precinct,  behind  the 
mountain."  In  February  of  1720  a  town  meeting  was  called 
and  a  committee  appointed  who  should  lay  out  one  thousand 
acres  of  the  best  farming  land  to  be  found  there. 

Their  report  included  nine  divisions  of  land.    The  first  of 


8  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

these,  possibly  in  continuance  of  its  Indian  name,  was  called 
Leaping  Well.  It  contained  four  home  lots,  number  one  being 
chosen  by  Nathaniel  Ingram,  whose  descendants  retained  pos- 
session of  it  for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half. 

The  second  division  was  called  ''North  of  Stony  Brook.** 
It  consisted  of  nine  home  lots,  and  lay  upon  the  west  side  of 
College  street,  beginning  near  the  residence  of  I.  N.  Day  and 
extending  northerly  nearly,  or  quite,  to  the  schoolhouse  grounds. 
The  latter  place  was  at  this  time  part  of  a  highway  ten  rods 
wide,  which,  beginning  at  the  schoolhouse,  extended  westerly 
down  the  slope  of  the  hill  till  at  the  foot  of  the  ravine  it  turned, 
running  northward  to  Hadley  street.  This  road  formed  part 
of  the  main  thoroughfare  from  Springfield  to  Hadley,  since 
the  cross  street  in  front  of  J.  S.  Preston's  house  had  not  then 
been  opened. 

About  thirty  rods  southwest  of  the  post  office  was  a  quag- 
mire, and  the  whole  section  was  spoken  of  in  the  ancient  rec- 
ords as  ''The  Gutter,  or  Lubber's  Hole." 

Tradition  gives  us  this  account  of  the  manner  in  which  it 
gained  its  name,  though  two  centuries  have  so  changed  the 
conformation  of  the  ground  that  the  story  loses  much  of  its 
significance.  Three  very  fleshy  men,  so  the  old  folks  say,  were 
once  journeying  from  Springfield  to  Hadley.  They  traveled 
in  company,  partly  for  the  sake  of  sociability,  but  chiefly  as  a 
means  )of  mutual  protection  against  wild  animals.  One  of 
the  number,  who  had  been  partaking  too  freely  of  old  New 
England  rum,  wandered  from  the  road  and  ended  by  falling 
into  the  quagmire.  Owing  to  his  great  weight  and  half -intoxi- 
cated condition,  it  was  almost  impossible  to  extricate  him.  The 
definition  of  a  lubber  was  "a  heavy,  clumsy  fellow,"  and  this 
incident  fixed  the  name  of  Lubber's  Hole  upon  a  region  that 
has  always  been  noted  for  the  industry  and  enterprise  of  its 
citizens. 

Many  of  these  early  names  were  given  in  recognition  of 
some  supposed  characteristic.  Misery  Swamp,  near  the  Slipe, 
was  tenanted  by  wolves,  who  made  night  hideous  with  their  dis- 
mal howling.     Bare  Hill   (now  Prospect)   was  almost  wholly 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  TOWN"  9 

destitute  of  vegetation,  while  Bear  Mountain  was  the  favorite 
haunt  of  Sir  Bruin.  Cold  Hill  is  still  swept  by  the  chilly  north- 
westers that  led  to  its  early  name,  and  Buttery  Brook,  too, 
has  a  little  story  of  its  own. 

A  buttery  at  first  denoted  a  place  where  butter  was  kept, 
but  in  process  of  time  its  signification  broadened,  and  it  came 
to  be  synonymous  with  pantry,  a  place  where  food  was  stored. 
In  those  days  it  was  customary,  when  a  deer  was  killed  in  spring- 
time or  during  the  summer,  to  separate  the  flesh  from  the  bones, 
the  former  being,  to  quote  from  J.  G.  Holland,  ''stored  in  a 
spring  whose  water,  summer  and  winter  alike,  was  almost  at 
freezing  point."  This  particular  location  in  South  Hadley 
Falls  was  recorded  in  1720  as  ''Markham's  Buttery,"  so  named, 
probably,  in  honor  of  William  Markham  of  Hadley,  a  son-in- 
law  of  Governor  John  Webster.  He  may  have  been  an  unus- 
ually successful  hunter  and  one  who  shared  generously  the  prod- 
ucts of  his  skill,  for  thirty  years  after  he  had  gone  upon  his 
last  journey  the  Proprietor's  Book  still  speaks  of  Markham 's 
Buttery. 

The  third  division  of  land  was  called  ''North  of  Lubber's 
Hole."  It  contained  eighteen  home  lots,  one  of  which  (a  part 
of  the  Eastman  homestead,  now  owned  by  J.  A.  Skinner)  was 
set  aside  for,  as  the  records  says,  "The  first  well  larnt,  ortho- 
dox minister  as  shall  settle  south  of  Mt.  Holyoke."  This  divi- 
sion began  upon  the  west  side  of  Woodbridge  street,  near  the 
foot  of  Mrs.  Hollingsworth's  garden,  and  extended  northward 
to  the  house  owned  by  Hinsdale  Smith. 

These  lots  were,  as  the  committee  reported,  curiously 
shaped,  "something  triangular  at  the  rear  of  them,  and  each 
one  of  them  longest  upon  the  southerly  side." 

The  White  family  chose  their  lots  near  the  site  now  owned 
by  A.  S.  Kinney,  and  by  purchase  eventually  obtained  the  whole 
of  this  division. 

"The  fourth  division,  west  of  Stony  Brook,"  comprised 
twenty-eight  home  lots  upon  the  east  side  of  College,  Wood- 
bridge  and  Amherst  streets,  beginning  near  the  Perkins  Mill 
and  reaching  almost  to  Bittersweet  Lane.    It  provided  also  for 


10  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

a  highway,  eight  rods  wide,  to  be  located  a  little  below  the  pres- 
ent Morgan  street.  The  land  which  formed  the  original  Sem- 
inary Campus  was  chosen  by  William  Murray  and  Peter  Mon- 
tague, Jr. 

The  fifth  division,  ^* north  of  Peachawomiche  Road,"  be- 
gan at  nearly  the  same  point  where  the  fourth  ended,  and  ex- 
tended northerly  to  Bachelor 's  Brook.  The  land  of  Samuel  Por- 
ter, who  had  drawn  home  lot  number  sixty-four,  included  both 
sides  of  Amherst  street,  that  highway  not  being  laid  out  until 
a  dozen  years  later,  when  it  was  so  narrow  it  was  known  only 
as  Hubbard's  Path,  which  followed  the  old  Indian  trail  from 
the  Notch  to  Cold  Hill. 

The  sixth  division  consisted  of  twenty-seven  lots  upon  the 
western  side  of  Cold  Hill,  eight  of  these  being  chosen  by  as 
many  individual  Smiths. 

In  the  seventh  division,  ''east  of  Cold  Hill,"  were  fourteen 
lots,  from  which  three  more  Smith  families  and  six  Dickinsons 
chose  their  homes. 

The  eighth  division  lay  ''east  of  Bare  Hill,  in  the  bow  of 
Stony  Brook."  Here  the  leading  owners  were  the  Kelloggs, 
who  retained  a  part  of  this  land  until  1909. 

The  ninth  and  last  division  was  "south  of  Bare  Hill,"  near 
the  Preston  homestead. 

The  distribution  of  these  one  thousand  acres  of  land  was 
effected  in  a  somewhat  singular  manner.  There  were  at  this 
time  one  hundred  and  seventeen  proprietors  holding  taxable 
property  within  the  limits  of  Hadley,  and  it  was  voted  that 
the  size  of  each  person's  home  lot  should  be  in  proportion  to  his 
ratable  estate.  In  consequence  of  this  provision,  and  of  the 
fact  that  the  lots  were  laid  out  from  a  quarter  to  a  half  mile 
in  depth,  it  came  about  that  while  the  rich  men  had  a  frontage 
on  the  street  of  from  three  hundred  to  seven  hundred  feet,  the 
unfortunate  owner  of  lot  number  seventy-five  found  himself  pos- 
sessed of  a  long  strip  of  land  only  six  feet,  two  and  one-fourth 
inches  in  width. 

The  method  of  determining  the  order  in  which  each  pro- 
prietor should  make  choice  of  his  land  was  by  "the  lot."    A 


THE  ORIGIN"  OF  THE  TOWN  11 

town  meeting  was  called  and  the  presiding  officer  placed  in  a 
hat  or  box  slips  of  paper  numbered  from  one  to  one  hundred  and 
eighteen.  Each  proprietor  as  his  name  was  called  took  out  one 
of  these  slips,  which  denoted  not  the  number  of  his  home  lot, 
but  that  of  his  turn  for  choosing  his  land.  The  fortunate  per- 
son who  drew  number  one  had  his  first  choice  of  the  whole  ter- 
ritory then  laid  out.  He  who  drew  the  last  number  must  take 
whatever  piece  of  land  was  left. 

After  the  distribution  of  the  home  lots  had  been  completed, 
it  was  soon  found  that  very  few  of  the  proprietors  were  ready 
to  face  the  difficulties  and  dangers  attendant  upon  the  begin- 
ning of  a  new  settlement.  Only  the  six,  whose  names  have  al- 
ready been  given,  adhered  firmly  to  their  purpose.  The  latter, 
it  was  said,  had  entered  into  a  compact  to  work  in  rotation  at 
clearing  the  land  and  building  one  another's  houses. 

The  following  account  of  the  manner  in  which  this  enter- 
prise was  conducted  was  derived  partly  from  tradition  and 
partly  from  ancient  records,  but  is  probably  correct  in  nearly 
every  detail. 

The  pioneers  of  South  Hadley,  with  the  exception  of  Luke 
Montague,  who,  not  being  of  age,  was  not  yet  entitled  to  draw 
a  home  lot,  were  all  married  men  whose  ages  ranged  from 
twenty-eight  to  thirty-seven  years.  Since  Peter  Montague 
would  have  the  assistance  of  his  younger  brother,  it  would 
naturally  be  expected  that  his  should  be  the  first  house  to  be 
framed,  especially  as  he  had  shrewdly  selected  his  land  in  a 
central  location,  and  just  opposite  the  point  of  junction  where 
the  two  roads  leading  from  Hadley  came  together,  but  before 
this  house  could  be  built  great  trees  must  be  felled,  great  beams 
hewed,  and  planks  be  sawed,  to  say  nothing  of  joists,  shingles 
and  hand-made  nails. 

It  was  soon  learned  that  the  best  timber  for  this  purpose 
was  to  be  found  upon  Chileab  Smith's  home  lot,  which  he  had, 
perhaps,  chosen  with  a  view  to  this  very  end.  His  land  was 
embraced  in  the  farm  formerly  occupied  by  the  late  Mr.  Albert 
Goldthwait,  and  the  first  field  ever  cleared  in  South  Hadley 
lay  a  little  southeast  of  the  house  of  Deacon  Calvin  Preston. 


12  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

For  nearly  two  centuritis  this  piece  of  ground  was  known  dis- 
tinctively as  ''The  Old  Field." 

The  old  Proprietor's  Book  speaks  of  the  mill  pond  (south 
of  Mrs.  Dunklee's  land),  on  which  at  this  time  a  saw  mill  was 
said  to  have  been  standing,  and  a  rough  cart  track  between  this 
place  and  Chileab  Smith's  home  lot  could  be  quickly  opened. 

No  sooner  was  the  unseasoned  timber  for  the  new  house 
prepared  for  weathering  than  other  work  lay  ready  at  hand. 
Ebenezer  Marsh  had  acquired  possession  of  a  piece  of  land 
northwest  from  the  home  of  Sheriff  Brockway.  This  must  be 
cleared  and  prepared  for  the  first  apple  orchard  ever  set  out 
in  South  Hadley.  Within  a  distance  of  eight  miles  were  nur- 
series from  which  young  trees  could  be  transplanted,  and  in  old 
account  books  from  1732  to  1740  we  find  frequent  entries  like 
the  following:    ''Bo't  of  Eb.  Marsh,  2  Barils  of  Syder." 

While  this  work  was  progressing,  it  is  said  that  these  first 
settlers  went  back  to  Hadley  every  Saturday  afternoon,  re- 
turning to  their  work  Monday  morning,  bringing  with  them 
loaves  of  rye  and  Indian  bread,  nut  cakes,  gingerbread,  and 
like  dainties.  As  for  more  substantial  food,  fish,  deer  and  wild 
turkeys  were  never  far  to  seek. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  house  of  Peter  Montague  was 
completed  during  this  first  summer.  Months  were  required  for 
seasoning  the  green  timber  so  that  it  would  neither  shrink  nor 
warp ;  then,  too,  the  chimney  must  be  taken  into  consideration, 
ground  must  be  excavated  to  the  depth  of  several  feet,  that  its 
foundation  might  be  below  the  reach  of  frost. 

Early  in  1721  we  find  our  pioneers  buying  more  land  south 
of  Mt.  Holyoke,  this  last  winter  (spent  in  Hadley)  having  in 
nowise  discouraged  them.  During  the  summer  of  1721,  more 
land  was  cleared,  material  for  John  Preston's  house  was  pre- 
pared and  fruit  trees  planted,  Peter  Montague  setting  out  young 
apple  trees  and  placing  a  pear  tree  at  the  very  corner  of  his 
house.  The  latter  is  thought  to  have  survived  one  hundred  and 
fifteen  years. 

As  summer  waned,  a  new  danger  threatened,  since  a  fresh 
Indian  war  was  imminent.    For  more  than  a  year  it  had  been 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  TOWN  13 

the  law  that  every  man  should  keep  arms  and  ammunition  with- 
in his  house,  and  the  weight  of  their  heavy  matchlocks,  which 
must  always  he  kept  within  reach  while  they  worked,  added 
much  to  the  labor  of  building. 

In  the  early  days  there  had  been  a  law  that  every  town 
upon  the  Connecticut  Eiver  should  keep  in  readiness  **  ninety 
coats  basted  with  cotton  wool  and  made  defensive  against  In- 
dian arrows,"  and  when,  as  was  customary,  the  minister 
preached  to  and  prayed  with  the  soldiers  before  their  setting 
out,  his  text  was  usually  an  inspiration,  as,  "Thou  shalt  not  be 
afraid  for  the  arrow  that  flieth  by  day."  But,  now,  in  spite  of 
the  law  strictly  prohibiting  the  sale  of  firearms  to  the  Indians, 
they  had  learned  their  use,  owned  them,  and  had  lost  their 
superstitious  fear  of  the  stick  that  sent  thunder  and  lightning. 

During  the  last  two  decades  many  white  men  had  been 
slain  near  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut,  some  when  working  in 
the  fields  and  others  in  their  own  homes.  At  this  time  the 
Indians,  instigated  by  their  French  allies,  had  already  taken 
captive  whole  families  of  the  English  and  carried  them  to 
Canada. 

Hadley,  early  in  1722,  in  spite  of  the  threatening  aspect  of 
affairs,  made  a  second  grant  of  land  south  of  Mt.  Holyoke.  This 
grant  was  five  times  the  size  of  the  previous  one,  and  the  success 
of  the  new  settlement  seemed  now  to  be  assured. 

In  this  distribution  of  land  William  Montague  appears  to 
have  cared  but  little  for  his  own  original  home  lot,  which  stood 
on  Woodbridge  street,  desiring  a  more  remote  location.  When 
the  day  appointed  for  the  choosing  of  land  arrived,  he,  followed 
possibly  by  Peter  Domo,  who  located  near  him,  desired  to  go 
farther  afield.  It  is  said  that  William  Montague,  after  reach- 
ing Woodbridge  street,  declared  himself  ready  to  walk  east- 
ward, following  an  old  Indian  trail,  until  sunset.  Nightfall 
found  him  at  the  McGrath  Spring  on  Batchelor  street.  Although 
the  land  eventually  decided  upon  lay  farther  to  the  south  and 
near  Granby  Center,  yet  he  kept  his  promise  of  settling  east 
of  the  first  nine  divisions. 

The  importance  of  having  new  roads,  whereby  intending 


14  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

settlers  could  reach  their  meadows  and  pasture  lands,  soon  be- 
came apparent.  The  first  highway  laid  out  in  the  town,  aside 
from  the  usual  thoroughfare  between  Springfield  and  Hadley, 
was  on  Moshier  street,  which  extended  northerly  to  the  house  of 
J.  W.  Waite,  then  easterly  to  South  street,  in  Granby — the  sur- 
veyors choosing,  as  the  old  record  said,  "The  hardest  and  even- 
est  land." 

We  also  read  that  on  April  20,  1722,  "We  laid  out  a  high- 
way running  easterly  from  ye  Cold  Hill  to  ye  end  of  our  Bounds, 
which  run  as  ye  Old  Path  runs.  Excepting  some  perticular 
places  where  we  run  streighter  or  other  places  where  ye  ground 
was  better  going.  This  is  called  by  some  ye  Peachawomache 
Road,  which  is  eight  rods  wide. ' '  On  the  following  day  a  high- 
way was  laid  out  from  the  Krug  Homestead  to  Smith's  Ferry, 
but  this  was  not  cleared  of  trees  until  many  years  later.  The 
locations  of  these  old  roads  have  in  most  cases  been  somewhat 
changed. 

Perhaps  no  better  proof  can  be  found  of  the  kind  feeling 
and  sense  of  justice  which  prevailed  in  those  days  than  their 
method  of  locating  new  roads.  Many  of  our  allotments  of  land 
were  laid  out  in  tiers  so  that  some  persons  were  unable  to  reach 
their  own  grounds  without  crossing  those  of  their  neighbors. 
In  such  cases  the  latter  was  forbidden  by  law  to  plow  up  the 
land  traversed  by  the  former.  A  committee  was  appointed 
who  apprised  the  land  for  the  road  and  the  man  who  wanted 
the  right  of  way  paid  for  it  and  held  it.  The  expense  of  felling 
the  trees  and  digging  up  the  stumps  in  these  long  highways 
would  have  been  a  heavy  burden  for  the  town  to  assume,  and 
later  on  it  was  accordingly  voted  that  those  settlers  who  needed 
fuel  in  order  to  replenish  their  winter  fires  should  have  liberty 
to  clear  the  timber  from  the  roads.  As  the  boundaries  of  the 
highway  were  not  very  clearly  defined,  it  was  sometimes  a  great 
temptation  to  encroach  upon  the  land  of  some  other  proprietor. 
A  man  who  was  once  reproved  for  cutting  a  fine  tree  beyond 
the  bounds  replied  that  "The  highway  is  always  widest  where 
the  best  timber  grows." 

The  work  of  constructing  these  roads  was  soon  interrupted 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  TOWN  15 

by  the  fourth  Indian  war,  which  was  terminated  only  by  the 
Long  Peace  of  1726.  During  this  time  the  depredations  of  the 
red  men  were  so  great  that  the  government,  in  order  to  stimu- 
late watchfulness,  offered  a  bounty  of  one  hundred  pounds  for 
every  Indian  scalp.  Under  these  circumstances,  life  south  of 
Mt.  Holyoke  would  be  deemed  very  unsafe. 

John  Preston  and  his  associates  had  not  forgotten  how  the 
red  men,  a  few  years  before,  had  climbed  to  the  summit  of  Mt. 
Tom  in  order  to  mark  the  position  of  the  scattered  houses  in 
the  village  beneath,  and  had  then  descended  to  massacre  more 
than  a  score  of  its  unsuspecting  inhabitants.  A  portion  of  the 
great  Indian  trail  from  Connecticut  to  Canada  lay  directly 
through  South  Hadley;  it  extended  from  the  ford  near  the 
bridge  in  the  Connecticut  River  to  Turkey  Pass,  or  The  Notch, 
as  it  is  now  called.  Why  should  not  Mt.  Holyoke  prove  to  be 
an  equally  good  vantage  ground  for  the  savage  foe!  Prudence 
certainly  dictated  that  the  new  settlement  should  be  abandoned 
for  a  time. 

Ancient  records  indicate  that  this  course  was  the  one  pur- 
sued, and  again  forest  and  copse  echoed  the  evening  song  of  the 
wood-thrush. 

There  were  still,  however,  brief  journeys  to  the  embryo 
town.  In  1725,  John  Preston,  desiring  to  be  near  his  kinsman, 
purchased  the  land  adjoining  Chileab  Smith's  home  lot  on  the 
west.  This  place,  known  as  the  Preston  Farm,  has  remained 
in  the  possession  of  his  descendants  ever  since. 

Here,  as  soon  as  the  war  was  over,  he  erected  the  second 
frame  dwelling  house  ever  built  in  South  Hadley.  Its  massive 
and  well-seasoned  timbers  were  fastened  strongly  together  with 
large  wooden  pegs.  His  original  home  lot  had  been  on  College 
street,  and  included  what  has  been  known  as  the  Old  Howard 
Place. 

Several  decades  after  the  erection  of  this  second  dwelling 
house  there  came  a  winter  of  unusual  length  and  severity.  The 
snow  lay  so  deep  upon  the  levels  that  on  the  20th  of  March  this 
building  was  drawn  across  to  College  street  over  the  tops  of 
the  fences,  and  after  being  set  a  short  distance  west  of  the  high- 


16  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

way  became  the  southern  ell  of  the  Howard  house.  This  dwell- 
ing was  consumed  by  fire  some  years  since  or  South  Hadley's 
second  house  might  have  survived  for  centuries  to  come. 

Early  in  1727  a  change  of  sentiment  in  regard  to  the  South 
Precinct  became  manifest.  Many  new  settlers  determined  to 
occupy  the  land  previously  allotted  them.  A  party  which  in- 
cluded five  families  of  Smiths,  three  of  Kelloggs,  three  of  Tay- 
lors, and  others,  commenced  the  work  of  building  their  houses. 

Luke  Montague,  a  stalwart  bachelor  of  twenty-seven,  had 
now  returned  to  South  Hadley.  He  brought  with  him  the  fa- 
mous Courting  Stick,  which  was  so  useful  on  cold  winter  nights 
when  there  being  bat  one  fire  in  the  house,  the  whole  family 
must  be  present  at  the  wooing.  This  Courting  Stick  was  a  hol- 
low tube  about  five  feet  in  length,  through  which  two  lovers 
could  whisper  to  one  another  without  their  conversation  being 
audible  to  those  about  them. 

Peter  Montague 's  first  house  appears  to  have  been  occupied 
at  this  time  by  Daniel  Nash,  Jr.,  who  subsequently  purchased 
the  premises.  He  was  apparently  not  quite  satisfied  with  the 
location  of  the  house,  which,  it  is  said,  after  taking  down  the 
stone  chimney,  he  moved  to  the  present  site  of  the  Art  Build- 
ing. Here  he  erected  a  huge  chimney  formed  of  hand-made 
bricks.  Attached  to  the  house  was  a  gunsmith's  shop,  wherein 
also  he  shod  horses  and  oxen. 

As  for  Ebenezer  Marsh,  aged  people  many  years  ago 
claimed  that  the  old  kitchen  still  at  the  rear  of  Fred  Loomer's 
dwelling  contained  the  big  chimney  and  ponderous  beams  of 
''Eb's"  first  domicile. 

The  number  of  settlers  south  of  the  mountain  began  to  in- 
crease so  rapidly  that  within  five  years  nearly  forty  families 
were  living  there. 

The  work  of  building  these  early  houses  was  of  necessity 
a  slow  and  laborious  one.  They  spent  little  time  in  digging  cel- 
lars, but  turned  their  attention  at  once  to  preparing  material  for 
chimneys,  the  bricks  for  which  must  all  be  made  by  hand.  For 
this  purpose  sand  must  be  thoroughly  mixed  with  the  clay  in 
order  to  prevent  it  from  cracking,  and  as  they  had  none  of  our 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  TOWN"  17 

modern  machinery  this  could  be  accomplished  only  by  the  tram- 
pling of  heavy  feet.  If  the  chimney  were  to  be  a  large  one  the 
sand  and  clay  were  placed  together  upon  the  ground,  and  for 
two  days  the  patient  oxen  were  driven  back  and  forth,  back 
and  forth,  till  the  two  ingredients  were  well  mingled.  Mold- 
ing it  into  form  and  drying  it  in  the  sun  before  putting  it  into 
their  primitive  kilns  must  also  be  done  by  hand.  The  number 
of  bricks  that  went  into  the  making  of  these  chimneys  would 
be  almost  incredible  in  our  day.  A  grandson  of  one  of  our 
pioneers,  building  a  house  here  in  1791,  used  10,000  hand-made 
bricks  in  constructing  a  single  chimney. 

In  the  beginning  all  worked  together,  in  turn,  upon  one 
another's  houses,  their  joint  labor  being  a  necessity  when  heavy 
lifting  was  to  be  done.  Confederacy  was  also  a  measure  of 
safety  at  night  when  the  tenants  of  the  forests  must  be  guarded 
against.  Not  only  did  the  wolves  issue  from  their  lairs,  but  Sir 
Bruin,  less  fierce  yet  a  clever  marauder,  might  be  sleeping  in 
the  very  door  yard.  Then,  too,  the  presence  of  venomous  rep- 
tiles entailed  constant  vigilance.  Eattlesnakes  came  down  from 
the  mountain  in  search  of  water  and  were  often  found  at  the 
very  threshold.  One  woman,  returning  from  a  fierce  encounter 
in  which  she  had  routed  his  snakeship,  said,  excitedly,  but  with- 
out a  thought  of  irreverence,  ''I  have  killed  the  Devil."  So 
numerous  and  venomous  were  these  reptiles  that  more  than  a 
century  later  it  was  a  common  saying  in  Amherst  College  that 
no  student  was  worthy  of  his  diploma  unless  he  had  killed  a 
rattlesnake.  A  member  of  the  Class  of  1830  said  at  a  commence- 
ment dinner  that  at  the  time  of  his  graduation  there  were  not 
students  enough  in  the  college  to  keep  the  campus  free  from 
snakes. 

Old  Mr.  Root,  who  lived  in  the  next  town,  was  always  ready 
to  tell  of  his  adventure  with  wolves.  He  had  been  down  to  the 
meadow  to  see  if  the  grass  was  ready  to  cut,  and,  it  being  a 
time  of  peace  with  the  Indians,  had  left  his  heavy  matchlock  at 
home.  On  his  way  back  he  heard  a  strange  noise,  and,  looking 
up,  saw  a  pack  of  wolves  coming  toward  him.  He  had  not  even 
a  stick  with  which  to  defend  himself,  and  reflecting  that  God 


18  IN  OLD  SOUTH  PIADLEY 

alone  could  save  him,  he  stood  still  in  the  path,  closed  his  eyes, 
and  prayed  that  for  the  sake  of  his  wife  and  little  ones  the  Lord 
would  preserve  him.  He  could  hear  the  shuffling  of  the  wolves ' 
feet  as  he  breathed  his  petition  and  expected  every  moment  to 
feel  their  fangs  in  his  throat.  Presently  the  sound  appeared  to 
grow  fainter  and  recede.  Opening  his  eyes  he  saw  the  last  one 
disappearing  and  knew  that  he  was  saved. 

Bears  were  not  at  this  time  considered  dangerous  to  the 
human  race  unless  angered  or  very  hungry.  Instances  are  told 
of  little  children  in  this  vicinity  passing  them  unharmed.  The 
author 's  great-grandfather  used  to  relate  the  story  of  a  narrow 
escape  which  he  once  had.  He  was  going  courting,  and  riding 
on  horseback  through  the  forests,  saw  before  him  a  large  black 
bear  sitting  upright  beside  the  woodland  path.  He  looked  so 
dignified  that  the  young  man,  in  his  light-heartedness,  ventured 
on  a  joke.  As  he  passed  by  he  lifted  his  hat  and  bowed  low. 
''Your  servant,  sir,"  he  said.  But  the  bear  evidently  considered 
this  a  challenge  to  mortal  combat,  for,  with  a  fierce  growl,  he  in- 
stantly started  in  pursuit.  Mile  after  mile  the  horse's  feet, 
winged  by  fear,  rushed  madly  on,  but  close  behind  them,  like  a 
relentless  fate,  came  the  padding  sound  of  the  infuriated  brute. 
At  last  the  panting  horse,  exhausted  by  the  race  for  life,  began 
to  falter  and  the  end  seemed  near,  when,  lo,  beside  the  path  stood 
a  house  and  yard  encircled  by  a  fence.  The  gate  was,  fortu- 
nately, open,  and  horse  and  rider  entered.  The  bear  stopped  to 
gaze  suspiciously  at  the  fence,  then  with  a  disappointed  growl 
turned  and  went  back  into  the  forest. 

During  the  early  settlement  of  the  town  there  prevailed 
among  its  inhabitants  an  almost  universal  spirit  of  kinship  and 
a  generous  regard  for  one  another's  interests.  To  every  new- 
comer there  was  straightway  given  what  was  called  a  Chop- 
ping Bee.  On  the  appointed  morning  men  might  be  seen  com- 
ing from  every  direction,  carrying  axes,  saws  and  other  imple- 
ments of  labor.  Wlien,  at  sunset,  the  grateful  proprietor  sur- 
veyed the  transformation  that  had  been  effected,  he  could  hardly 
believe  the  testimony  of  his  own  eyes.  This  great  change  had 
been  brought  about  by  what  was  then  called  the  drive;  this 


THE  ORIGIN'  OF  THE  TOWN  19 

meant  that  the  woods  had  been  leveled  in  the  following  manner : 
A  row  of  trees  was  selected,  the  first  one  of  which  was  felled 
and  removed ;  the  others  were  then  partly  cnt,/  all  of  them  upon 
the  same  side  toward  the  front,  the  smaller  trees  being  chopped 
into  until  the  middle  of  the  trunk  had  been  reached,  while  the 
larger  ones  were  penetrated  still  more  deeply.  The  last  tree 
in  the  row  was  felled  in  such  a  manner  that  it  would  drop  upon 
the  preceding  one,  and  when  the  crashing  sound  that  followed 
had  ceased  it  would  be  found  that  all  the  trees  had  fallen  in  the 
same  manner  that  a  long  row  of  ninepins  can  be  thrown  down 
by  a  single  blow  administered  at  one  end  of  the  line. 

Most  of  these  early  houses  were  small,  one-story  affairs, 
and  if  any  attempt  was  made  at  having  a  cellar  the  latter  could 
only  be  reached  by  means  of  a  short  ladder  let  down  through  a 
trap  door  in  the  kitchen  floor. 

In  1728  Peter  Montague,  returning  to  South  Hadley,  pur- 
chased the  land  southwest  of  Bachelor  Brook,  where  he  built  his 
second  house,  which  was  at  that  date  the  finest  dwelling  south 
of  Mt.  Holyoke.  Four  of  its  large  rooms  contained  each  a  big, 
open  fireplace ;  one  of  these,  a  chamber  in  the  second  story,  being 
called  the  spinning  room. 

It  had  been  one  of  the  early  laws  that  boys,  girls  and  women 
should  spin  thirty  weeks  each  year,  and  it  was  the  duty  of  the 
selectmen  to  see  that  this  edict  was  carried  into  effect.  During 
the  twenty-two  weeks  of  cold  weather  very  few  of  our  in- 
habitants had  any  means  of  heating  their  spinning  room.  South 
Hadley  did  not  intend  that  the  crime  of  laziness  should  take 
root  within  her  borders,  and  a' special  committee  was  appointed 
to  look  after  idle  persons.  This  duty  later  on  developed  upon 
the  tithing  men,  whose  office  was  not  simply  to  preserve  order  in 
church,  but  to  see  that  in  every  family  the  spinning  and  weav- 
ing of  flax  and  wool  provided  sufficient  clothing  for  the  house- 
hold. They  were  at  that  time  called  inspectors  of  the  neigh- 
bors. Any  families  who  neglected  to  comply  with  their  de- 
mands were  warned  by  the  constable  that  they  must  leave  the 
town. 

Habits  of  enforced  industry  were  continued  until  far  into 


20  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

the  nineteenth  century.  Each  of  the  young  people  had  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  work  allotted  them,  which  was  called  their  stint 
or  stent,  and  no  recreation  was  allowed  until  this  task  had  been 
accomplished.  Even  the  younger  boys,  upon  their  return  from 
school,  were  required  to  knit  a  certain  number  of  rounds  upon 
their  stockings  before  they  could  have  a  moment  of  play  time. 

There  was  often  a  friendly  rivalry  among  young  girls 
in  the  same  neighborhood.  Our  minister's  daughter,  Julia 
Hayes,  in  the  old  parsonage  now  occupied  by  Mrs.  Lester, 
Clarissa  Dwight,  who  lived  on  the  present  site  of  the  Art  Build- 
ing, and  Sally  White,  whose  father  kept  a  tavern,  each  had  the 
same  amount  of  spinning  allotted  to  them.  This  trio  had  agreed 
among  themselves  that  whoever  first  finished  her  task  should 
hang  a  towel  from  the  window,  and  every  morning  found  the 
girls  at  the  very  earliest  peep  of  day  sitting  at  their  spinning 
wheels,  each  ambitious  of  being  the  first  to  hang  out  the  signal 
that  her  stent  was  accomplished. 

In  such  ways  did  our  forefathers  teach  their  children  to 
respect  the  old  saying  that  ''Idleness  travels  very  slowly  and 
poverty  soon  overtakes  her." 


CHAPTER  SECOND 

EAELY  LIFE   IN   SOUTH   HADLEY 

MANIFOLD  were  the  devices  whereby  our  early  house- 
wives were  aided  in  their  struggle  with  the  privations 
incident  to  the  settlement  of  a  new  town. 

Then,  as  now,  Monday  was  washing  day.  The  larger  home 
lots  had  been  so  carefully  laid  out  that  nearly  every  one  con- 
tained a  stream  of  water,  where  in  summer  the  clothing  of  the 
family  could  be  washed  and  then  hung  upon  the  bushes  to  dry. 

But  when  winter  came  and  the  brooks  were  fettered  with 
ice  some  substitute  for  the  modern  tub  must  be  devised.  Nature, 
however,  had  anticipated  many  of  their  needs.  Ready  at  hand 
in  our  swamps  stood  a  species  of  the  black  gum,  called  the  pep- 
eridge  tree,  whose  trunk  when  old  was  hollow  or  filled  with  a 
soft,  spongy  substance  which  could  be  easily  removed.  A  sec- 
tion of  the  trunk  was  sawed  off,  two  projections  being  left  upon 
the  upper  side,  which  would  later  be  made  into  handles,  and  a 
round  disk  of  wood  was  fitted  into  the  other  end.  The  records 
show  that  a  washing  tub  was  considered  the  equivalent  in  value 
of  a  half  bushel  measure.  Churns,  keelers  for  washing  dishes, 
mortars,  and  miniature  barrels,  which  served  as  a  receptacle  for 
soft  soap,  were  made  in  a  similar  manner.  A  softer  kind  of 
wood,  with  a  less  twisted  grain,  was  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
the  wooden  plates,  bowls,  platters,  and  other  dishes  in  common 
use.  The  children  ate  their  bread  and  milk  with  spoons  whit- 
tled out  by  their  fathers,  or  cunningly  shaped  from  gourds, 
raised  for  this  purpose.  Even  the  first  communion  service  may 
have  been  in  this,  as  in  other  towns,  a  wooden  one. 

Upon  the  advent  of  visitors,  the  dinner  table  was  adorned 
with  pewter  plates  and  dishes,  shining  like  so  much  silver.  Only 
at  neighborhood  tea  parties  did  the  few  bits  of  china  appear. 
At  these  each  guest  was  supposed  to  bring  his  or  her  own  cup, 
saucer,  teaspoon,  and  possibly  an  earthen  plate.     The  tea  was 


22  IX  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

cooled  in  and  drank  from  the  saucer,  and  a  spoon  placed  in  the 
cnp  was  a  signal  to  the  hostess  that  it  needed  replenishing. 
These  festive  occasions  were  bright  spots  amid  the  ceaseless 
drudgery  of  the  settlers'  life.  The  pound-cake  that  graced  the 
center  of  the  table  was  intended  for  ornament  as  well  as  con- 
sumption. "G-est  to  let  her  see  that  I  knew  what  manners  was. 
I  passed  it  a  second  time,  and  she  up  and  took  another  hull 
piece."  was  the  complaint  uttered  by  one  of  these  ancient 
matrons. 

About  this  time  the  small  two-tined  forks,  with  handles  of 
horn,  had  come  into  use  here,  but  they  were  still  rare,  as  one  of 
our  richest  men.  whose  family  consisted  of  ten  persons,  owned 
but  five  knives  and  forks,  and  seven  silver  spoons.  In  these  days 
the  meat  was  cut  into  small  pieces  before  placing  it  upon  the 
table,  and  each  child  was  given  a  bit  of  stout  twig,  from  which 
the  bark  had  been  removed.  Its  two  prongs  having  been  well 
sharpened,  served  as  a  substitute  for  the  new-fangled  fork. 

From  the  ancient  records  we  gain  many  a  glimpse  of  the 
manners  and  customs  of  that  day.  The  aforesaid  family  pos- 
sessed but  one  looking-glass,  this  being  considered  a  patrician 
luxury.  They  had,  however,  four  spinning  wheels  and  a 
weaver's  loom,  these  articles  being  classed  among  the  necessi- 
ties of  life.  Upon  them  had  been  manufactured  the  thirteen 
linen  sheets,  in  common  use,  the  latter  being  valued  in  the  ap- 
praisal at  one  shilling  each,  while  the  pair  of  cotton  sheets,  kept 
for  the  most  distinguished  guests,  were  set  down  at  thirty  shill- 
ings. 

This  weaving  and  spinning  must  be  done  by  daylight,  for 
the  inventory  includes  only  two  candlesticks,  both  of  them  being 
of  iron.  If  any  greater  illumination  was  needed,  a  candlestick 
could  be  improvised  from  a  turnip. 

In  the  making  of  candles,  we  find  another  instance  of  the 
abounding  hospitahty  that  prevailed.  Those  dipped  in  melted 
tallow  were  considered  good  enough  for  ordinary  use,  but  the 
company  candles  had  their  wicks  first  dipped  in  turpentine  in 
order  to  make  them  bum  with  a  brighter  flame.  It  must  be  re- 
membered that  the  ruddy  glow  which  flooded  the  room  from 


EARLY  LIFE  IN  SOUTH  HADLEY  33 

the  burning  logs  in  the  wide-mouthed  fireplace  did  much  to- 
ward lighting  the  big  kitchen,  which  was  the  general  place  of 
resort  during  the  long  winter  evenings,  and  in  whose  dusky 
depths  young  lovers  clasped  hands  and  murmured  their  fond 
vows,  unheeded  by  their  elders. 

Our  town  had  at  that  time  a  silent  form  of  courtship,  bor- 
rowed from  the  Indians.  The  bashful  youth  who  would  fain 
offer  himself  to  the  maiden  of  his  choice  plucked  a  sprig  of 
southernwood,  and  at  some  opportune  moment  placed  it  in  her 
hand.  Quick  to  interpret  its  meaning,  her  answer  might  be 
given  in  three  different  ways.  If  she  ruthlessly  broke  it  in  pieces 
and  threw  it  away,  this  betokened  a  complete  rejection  of  his 
suit.  If  she  looked  at  it  and  then  gently  returned  it,  this  was 
equivalent  to  saying,  "  I  do  not  yet  know  my  own  mind,  but  you 
may  continue  to  come  here."  If  she  kept  it,  raising  it  to  her 
face  in  order  to  inhale  its  spicy  fragrance,  then  indeed  were  the 
gates  of  Paradise  flung  wide  before  him. 

Courtesy  toward  even  unwelcome  guests  was  always  a 
marked  characteristic  of  this  place.  He  who  had  spent  a  night 
in  any  household  expected,  as  a  matter  of  course,  an  invitation 
to  conduct  the  morning  devotions,  and  sometimes  prolonged 
them  beyond  the  usual  limits.  Upon  one  of  these  occasions  a 
little  South  Hadley  boy,  whose  knees  were  weary  from  the  long 
kneeling,  remarked  in  a  distinctly  audible  voice,  "You've  pray- 
ered  long  enough."  This  brought  the  orison  to  a  speedy  close, 
but  the  boy  was  afterwards  interviewed  by  one  of  his  parents 
and  never  repeated  the  misbehavior. 

The  ''everyday"  apple  pies  were  made  with  a  rye  crust, 
and  sweetened  with  maple  sugar;  but  there  must  always  be  a 
company  pie  with  wheaten  crust,  and  well  seasoned  with  spice, 
and  white  or  brown  sugar. 

A  child's  first  instruction  in  school  was  in  regard  to  polite- 
ness. Before  learning  his  A  B  C's  he  was  taught  to  make  his 
manners.  This  meant  that  he  should  watch  the  slow  descent  of 
the  teacher's  hand — his  toes  placed  carefully  upon  the  line — and 
at  the  psychological  moment,  should  bend  his  body  forward  in  an 
awkward  bow.  ''Children  should  be  seen  and  not  heard,"  was 


24  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

the  instant  reproof  if  the  little  ones  attempted  to  speak  at  the 
noon  repast.  There  was  no  trouble  at  morning  and  night,  for 
they  were  not  allowed  to  come  to  table  during  breakfast  or  supper, 
but  ate  their  bread  and  milk,  or  hasty  pudding,  sitting  upon  a 
joint  stool.  The  reason  of  this  exclusion  from  the  two  meals 
may  have  been  that  the  one  was  too  early  and  the  other  too 
late;  for  in  summer  the  farmer's  family  breakfasted  at  five 
o  'clock  and  supped  at  seven,  while  in  winter  the  usual  hour  was 
six  0  'clock,  both  morning  and  night.  Giving  plenty  of  time  for 
sleep  to  the  occupants  of  the  trundle  bed  was  one  of  the  old-time 
cardinal  virtues. 

The  late  Dr.  J.  G.  Holland,  poet  and  historian,  who  was 
formerly  a  resident  of  our  town,  and  who  often  said  that  he  loved 
South  Hadley  and  was  glad  that  he  could  count  himself  among 
her  sons,  when  he  heard  someone  quote,  ''The  necessary  hours 
of  sleep  are  six  for  a  man,  seven  for  a  woman,  and  eight  for  a 
fool,"  is  said  to  have  remarked  dryly  that  the  man  who  origi- 
nated that  saying  had  better  sleep  eight  hours  in  order  to  verify 
his  own  statement. 

The  moral  and  spiritual  welfare  of  children  was  watched 
over  with  no  less  degree  of  care  than  their  physical  develop- 
ment. The  birch  rod  was  considered  a  necessary  adjunct  of 
nearly  every  household,  and  usually  lay  ready  at  hand  upon 
the  mantelpiece.  After  correction  had  been  duly  administered, 
some  parents  required  the  sobbing  culprit  to  stand  in  front  of 
them  and  rept  t  these  exasperating  lines: 

''Solomon  says,  his  words  are  mild, 

'Spare  the  rod  and  spoil  the  child.' 

Oh,  no,  dear  mother,  don't  do  so. 

But  whip  me  well,  and  make  me  do." 
Should  a  child  exhibit  signs  of  a  dawning  vanity  in  a  new 
bonnet  or  dress.  Dr.  Watts  supplied  just  the  words  they  needed 
to  learn: 

"How  should  our  garments,  made  to  hide 

Our  sin  and  shame,  provoke  our  pride, 

For  the  poor  sheep  and  silkworm  wore 

The  very  clothing  long  before." 


EARLY  LIFE  IN  SOUTH  HADLEY  35 

Or,  if  little  brothers  and  sisters  quarreled,  the  punishment 
was  supposed  to  receive  added  emphasis  by  having  them  re- 
peat immediately  after  it : 

''Let  dogs  delight  to  bark  and  bite, 

For  God  hath  made  them  so ; 
Let  bears  and  lions  growl  and  fight. 

For  'tis  their  nature  to. 
But,  children,  you  should  never  let 

Your  angry  passions  rise ; 
Your  little  hands  were  never  made 
To  tear  each  others  eyes." 
As  the  years  went  on,  the  rhymes  grew  a  little  milder. 
Major  David  Smith,  who,  after  the  Revolutionary  War,  had 
been  made  a  deacon  in  our  church,  having  become  a  merchant, 
went,  at  stated  intervals,  to  Boston  in  order  to  replenish  his 
stock  of  goods.    About  a  century  ago  he  appears  to  have  intro- 
duced wooden  dolls  with  glass  eyes  and  vermilion  cheeks,  which 
were  to  the  children  a  perpetual  joy,  they  being  to  a  certain 
degree  indestructible.    Coincident  with  this  was  the  publication 
of  a  new  poem: 

''Miss  Jenny  and  Molly  had  each  a  new  dolly, 

"With  rosy  red  cheeks  and  blue  eyes, 
Dressed  in  ribbons  and  gauze,  and  they  quarreled  because 

The  dolls  were  not  both  of  a  size. 
Oh,  silly  Miss  Jenny  to  be  such  a  ninny, 
To  make  so  much  trouble  and  noise ;    ; 
For  the  very  next  day  her  mamma  took  away 
The  doll  with  red  cheeks  and  blue  eyes." 
One  of  the  mothers  in  an  adjoining  town  publicly  declared 
that  she  should  bring  up  her  children  without  whipping  them. 
This  was  a  heresy  that  could  not  be  countenanced,  and  the  church 
committee  were  sent  to  call  upon  her  in  order  to  convince  her  of 
the  error  of  her  ways.    They  reminded  her  that  Solomon,  the 
wisest  man  that  ever  lived,  said  "Chasten  thy  son  while  there 
is  hope,  and  let  not  thy  soul  spare  for  his  crying,"  and  repeated 
other  passages  of  like  import.     "I  am  not  patterning  my  life 
after  Solomon's,"  she  answered  firmly,  "but  after  the  Lord 


26  m  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

Jesus.  We  are  living  under  the  New  Dispensation,"  and  she 
gave  them  such  apt  quotations  from  the  Testament  that  they 
were  glad  to  beat  a  retreat.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  every  one 
of  her  sons  became  either  a  minister  or  a  deacon. 

Children,  as  soon  as  they  were  too  old  to  sit  in  lap,  were 
taught  to  stand  at  table  during  the  noontide  meal.  They  were 
not  allowed  to  sit  until  they  had  become  so  tall  that  it  was  in- 
convenient to  convey  their  food  from  the  plate  to  the  mouth. 
Tables  were  much  lower  than  at  the  present  time,  and  some- 
times a  child  borrowed  grandma's  cricket  to  stand  upon. 

It  was  expected  at  this  time  that  every  boy  should  read  the 
Bible  through  at  least  once.  This  could  be  accomplished  in  a 
year's  time  by  reading  three  chapters  every  day,  and  ten  every 
Sunday.  We  find  in  our  old  account  books  how  this  or  that  boy 
was  paid  twenty-five  cents  for  having  read  the  Bible  through. 

About  the  middle  of  the  forenoon,  in  haying  time,  the  labor- 
ers always  stopped  for  a  snack,  as  it  was  termed,  and  while 
they  ate,  some  boy,  detailed  for  the  purpose,  brought  his  Bible 
and  read  aloud  to  them,  thus  combining  at  the  same  time  bodily 
and  spiritual  refreshment. 

"Five  feather  beds"  is  one  of  the  items  in  the  inventory 
previously  referred  to.  From  the  refuse  of  their  flax  the  set- 
tlers made  a  kind  of  coarse  canvas  called  "tow  cloth."  This 
was  sewed  into  ticks,  two  for  each  bed.  One  of  them  was  filled 
with  straw  for  summer  use,  and  the  other  with  feathers,  since, 
during  the  winter,  in  the  fireless  rooms,  they  were  needed  for 
warmth  as  well  as  repose.  These  feathers  were  obtained  from 
the  wild  turkeys,  which  were  so  plentiful.  Nat  Goodale  used 
to  say,  "There  was  not  an  acre  of  land  between  Bittersweet 
Lane  and  Mt.  Holyoke  upon  which  he  had  not  shot  a  wild  tur- 
key." 

It  was  not  until  after  the  Kevolution  that  even  the  richest 
inhabitants  had  a  "tame"  turkey  for  the  Thanksgiving  dinner. 
Before  the  advent  of  brooms  the  wings  of  these  fowls  were  used 
not  only  for  dusting  the  furniture,  but  in  the  hands  of  children 
as  a  means  of  keeping  the  floor  clean.  The  stiff  tail  feathers 
were  fastened  together  at  the  quills,  forming  an  immense  fan 


;;^^-^^^f 


EARLY  LIFE  IN  SOUTH  HADLEY  37 

which  was  used  to  keep  at  bay  the  buzzing  flies  that  on  Sundays 
in  summer  swarmed  through  the  unscreened  windows  of  the  meet- 
ing house. 

As  more  land  was  cleared,  the  beds  were  much  improved 
by  the  substitution  of  what  were  known  as  ''live  geese  feath- 
ers. ' '  This  indicated  that  a  piece  of  ground,  situated  near  a  run- 
ning stream,  had  been  enclosed  in  a  goose  pen.  Three  times 
each  year  were  its  inmates  deprived  of  some  part  of  their  downy 
covering.  At  every  other  new  moon  during  the  spring  and  early 
summer  each  goose  was  caught  in  turn,  an  old  stocking  pulled 
over  its  head  to  prevent  it  from  biting,  and  about  five  ounces  of 
soft  feathers  taken,  after  which  it  was  released.  Whenever  a 
suggestion  was  made  to  the  old  people  in  regard  to  the  seeming 
cruelty  of  this  operation,  it  was  indignantly  repelled  with  the 
assertion  that  at  this  season  of  the  year  the  geese  often  pulled 
out  their  own  feathers. 

The  employments  now  assigned  reispectively  to  boys  and 
girls  were  then  considered  as  interchangeable.  Young  boys 
were  taught  to  spin  and  knit,  wash  dishes,  and,  if  necessary, 
make  beds;  girls  learned  to  rake  hay,  milk  the  cow,  and  weed 
the  garden.  It  was  the  boast  of  one  of  our  Cold  Hill  farmers 
that  with  the  help  of  his  four  daughters  he  needed  no  hired  man. 

The  geese  were  usually  driven  back  and  forth,  to  and  from 
their  pasture,  by  a  girl,  who  always  received  a  feather  bed, 
bolster  and  two  pillows  as  a  part  of  her  wedding  dowry.  Esther 
K.,  who  lived  in  the  "Over-the-Brook"  district,  had  been  goose 
girl  for  many  years  and  felt  that  when  she  left  the  paternal  roof 
she  had  earned  more  than  one  feather  bed.  But  custom  was  in- 
exorable. So  she  wove  herself  a  tick,  a  little  larger  than  the 
ordinary  size,  and  stuffed  it  with  feathers  till  her  friends  said 
it  was  so  hard  it  would  prove  uncomfortable.  She  took  no  notice 
of  this  remark,  but  after  arriving  at  her  new  home,  calmly  drew 
from  her  hair  trunk  a  second  tick,  and  having  transferred  nearly 
half  of  the  feathers,  pointed  with  pride  to  her  two  nice  beds,  and 
all  the  neighbors  agreed  that  Mr.  M.  had  found  a  very  capable 
wife. 

It  was  a  common  saying  here  that  no  girl  was  fit  to  be  mar- 


28  EARLY  LIFE  IN  SOUTH  HADLEY 

ried  until  she  had  a  pillow  case  full  of  stockings,  the  wool  for 
which  must  be  carded,  spun,  and  knit  by  her  own  hands. 

A  wedding  was  the  favorite  merrymaking  with  both  young 
and  old.  The  elder  people  knew  that  the  long  afternoon  would 
afford  them  ample  time  for  talking  politics,  indulging  in  friendly 
gossip,  or  exchanging  recipes  for  new  dishes,  which  in  the  ab- 
sence of  cook  books  was  deemed  a  matter  of  importance.  Then, 
too,  they  were  certain  of  having  a  substantial  supper,  veal,  beef, 
and  other  attractive  viands,  with  unlimited  supplies  of  liquid 
refreshment. 

For  the  young  people  there  was  the  evening  dance,  pro- 
longed, as  a  peculiar  privilege,  until  ten  o  'clock.  But  they  must 
trip  the  ''light  fantastic  toe"  to  the  music  of  a  different  violin 
from  the  one  which  led  the  Sunday  service  of  song.  To  use  the 
same  instrument  at  both  church  and  dance  would  have  seemed 
in  that  day  a  most  unsanctified  proceeding,  even  though  the  min- 
ister himself  closed  the  merrymaking  with  the  Benediction. 

Colonial  laws  strictly  forbade  the  wooing  of  a  maiden  with- 
out having  first  obtained  the  consent  of  her  parents ;  this  some- 
times caused  an  unscheduled  change  in  the  marriage  ceremony. 
The  author's  grandfather  used  to  tell  how  a  daughter  of  the 
Widow  H.  was  about  to  wed  a  young  man  of  excellent  repute, 
though  not  a  member  of  the  church.  On  the  wedding  day,  hardly 
had  the  minister  finished  his  first  prayer  when  the  mother  of  the 
bride  interposed.  Calling  the  young  man  by  name,  she  de- 
manded from  him  a  promise  that  if  he  married  her  daughter  he 
would  immediately  institute  family  worship  and  have  morning 
and  evening  devotions  every  day.  After  some  hesitation  he 
consented.  Then  she  asked  him  if  he  were  prepared  to  acknowl- 
edge that,  owing  to  the  death  of  her  husband,  she,  and  she 
alone,  had  the  right  to  give  or  withhold  her  daughter  in  mar- 
riage. To  this,  upon  due  reflection,  he  assented,  upon  which 
she  triumphantly  produced  a  paper  which  contained  the  legal 
relinquishment  of  the  daughter's  share  in  her  father's  estate, 
leaving  it  to  the  widow  to  give  the  bride  only  such  portion  as  she 
might  see  fit.  She  requested  him  to  sign  the  paper.  This  he 
refused  to  do,  upon  which  Mrs.  H.  forbade  the  continuance  of 


READING    THE    BIBLE    TO    THE    HAYMAKERS 


EARLY  LIFE  IN  SOUTH  HADLEY  29 

the  ceremony.  The  minister  was  perplexed ;  the  guests  nervous ; 
but  the  mother  remained  calm  and  firm.  At  length  the  un- 
happy bridegroom  yielded,  and  the  minister  used  to  say  that 
he  finished  that  ceremony  with  a  celerity  seldom  witnessed. 

About  the  year  1800  marriage  notices  were  sent  to  the 
newspapers,  and  were  always  accompanied  by  a  piece  of  the 
wedding  cake.  These  notices  were  generally  printed  in  a  com- 
plimentary style.    We  find  in  an  old  newspaper: 

"Mr.  John  Powers  was  married  to  the  amiable  and  much 
accomplished  Miss  Jerusha  Preston,  daughter  of  Leftenant 
Preston  of  South  Hadley." 

The  amount  of  the  bride's  fortune  was  frequently  included 
in  the  marriage  notices,  for  by  law  the  wife's  dowry  became  at 
once  the  property  of  her  husband. 

But  there  were  other  and  less  joyous  gatherings  than  those 
which  marked  the  wedding  festivities.  In  their  desire  to  avoid 
all  resemblance  to  the  English  ceremonial,  our  ancestors  at  first 
held  no  religious  services  at  funerals,  and  during  the  first  few 
years  of  our  town  burials  were  very  unlike  those  of  to-day.  Old 
people  used  to  tell  us  their  grandfathers  claimed  that  they  could 
hew  from  a  log,  planks  so  smooth  that  one  would  suppose  they 
had  been  nicely  planed.  Out  of  these  planks  were  probably  con- 
structed oblong  boxes,  which,  when  painted  black,  served  as 
coffins.  Later,  the  better  class  of  carpenters  in  our  town  be- 
came known  as  cabinetmakers,  and  were  expected  to  keep  con- 
stantly on  hand  a  supply  of  coffins,  large  at  the  head  and  taper- 
ing at  the  foot.  We  find  in  the  old  account  books,  about  1770, 
"To  a  coffin  with  a  door  to  it,  fifty  shillings."  "To  a  coffin  with 
a  door  hung,"  etc.  This  doubtless  referred  to  the  panel  in  the 
lid,  which,  when,  removed,  left  the  face  exposed  to  view. 

One  of  the  chief  requisites  for  a  burial  was  an  abundant  sup- 
ply of  cider  and  other  spirituous  liquors.  These  were  dispensed 
both  before  and  after  the  interment. 

In  accordance  with  their  belief  that  the  two  sexes  should 
be  separated  during  divine  service  at  the  meeting  house,  men 
and  women  were  not  permitted  to  sit  together  at  funerals.  If 
the  deceased  person  were  a  woman  then  the  women  sat  in  the 


30  EARLY  LIFE  IN  SOUTH  HADLEY 

same  room  with  the  coffin,  and  told  one  another  in  whispers  of 
the  different  omens  that  had  forewarned  of  death.  For  more 
than  a  century  the  friendly  whippoorwills  of  Mt.  Holyoke  were 
in  the  habit  of  coming  down  to  the  settlement  in  search  of  food, 
and  sometimes  alighted  upon  the  ridgepole,  that  being  their 
favorite  perch.  But  if  the  plaintive  note  of  this  bird  was  heard 
over  a  house  wherein  a  sick  person  lay,  the  case  was  considered 
hopeless.  A  long  bit  of  wick  in  an  unsnuffed  candle  was  called 
a  winding  sheet,  and  was  said  to  betoken  that  one  would  soon 
be  needed  in  that  neighborhood. 

For  more  than  a  hundred  years  a  certain  kind  of  wood 
tick,  which  made  a  curious  little  drumming  sound  with  its  head, 
added  to  the  superstitious  fears  of  our  fathers.  It  was  called 
the  death  watch,  and  though  it  was  often  in  the  walls  the  sick 
who  heard  it  felt  sure  that  death  was  near.  But  if  the  sound 
ceased,  everyone  made  haste  to  repeat  these  encouraging  words : 

* '  The  omen  is  broken,  the  danger  is  over, 
The  insect  will  die,  and  the  sick  will  recover. ' ' 

Women  were  at  this  time  said  to  have  been  excluded  from 
funeral  processions ;  they  remained  at  the  house,  setting  tables 
and  preparing  food  of  which  all  were  to  partake  on  the  return 
from  the  grave. 

As  the  years  rolled  on,  it  became  the  custom  for  the  minister 
to  make  a  prayer  at  the  house,  and  for  the  members  of  the  be- 
reaved family  to  read  aloud  appropriate  texts  of  Scripture. 

About  1800  there  had  been  still  greater  changes  in  the 
method  of  conducting  services  for  the  dead.  Now,  at  every 
funeral,  the  minister  preached  a  sermon,  usually  a  laudatory 
one,  and  closing  with  personal  remarks  addressed  to  different 
members  of  the  bereaved  family.  If  the  deceased  had  been  a 
large  landholder  he  was  spoken  of  as  a  man  of  substance. 

In  a  sermon  preached  upon  the  death  of  one  of  our  richest 
men,  the  widow  was  adjured  ''not  to  repine  at  her  loss,  but 
rather  to  wonder  at  the  divine  mercy  that  had  spared  her. ' '  We 
learn  from  an  old  diarj^  that  Deacon  Smith's  funeral  sermon 
''touched  upon  his  character  and  the  loss  sustained  by  the  town 


EARLY  LIFE  IX  SOUTH  HADLEY  31 

and  the  church  by  the  death  of  so  great,  so  wise,  and  so  pious 
a  man,  in  that  most  useful  age  of  his  life." 

After  the  Revolution  women  were  no  longer  excluded  from 
the  funeral  procession,  and  were  even  allowed  to  be  present  dur- 
ing the  committal  to  the  grave.  If  the  deceased  person  were  a 
woman,  then  they  walked  two  and  two  directly  behind  the  bier, 
the  men  following  in  like  manner.  If  the  deceased  were  a  man, 
then  this  order  was  reversed,  men  having  the  precedence.  The 
horsemen  rode  behind  the  mourners  two  abreast,  while  the  rear 
was  filled  with  chaises  and  other  vehicles.  So  great  was  the 
respect  shown  toward  the  dead  that  during  the  conveyance  from 
the  house  to  the  burying  ground  the  street  was  kept  clear  of 
both  persons  and  horses  so  that  no  one  would  either  meet  or  pass 
the  procession  upon  its  way. 

There  were  at  that  time  no  professional  undertakers,  but 
once  in  five  years  a  committee  was  appointed  by  our  town,  one 
in  each  school  district,  whose  duty  it  was  to  ''regulate  the  pro- 
cessions at  funerals."  This  committee  was  usually  composed 
of  the  leading  men,  courtly  in  their  manners,  but  of  firm,  well- 
disciplined  wills.  Among  them  we  find  in  our  town  records  such 
names  as  these:  Col.  Ruggles  Woodbridge,  Major  Eliphaz 
Moody,  Lieut.  Titus  Goodman,  Dr.  Stebbins,  Lieut.  Joseph 
White,  etc. 

Six  bearers,  using  what  was  termed  a  shoulder  bier,  car- 
ried the  coffin  from  the  home  of  the  deceased  to  the  graveyard, 
a  distance  of  several  miles.  Later  their  number  was  reduced  to 
four,  but  sometimes  relays  of  men  preceded  them,  and,  at  stated 
intervals,  relieved  the  bearers  by  taking  their  places.  This 
shoulder  bier  was  still  in  use  here  in  1837.  It  was  usually  con- 
cealed beneath  a  black  cloth,  called  a  pall.  The  latter  was  owned 
by  the  town.  We  find  in  the  records  of  January  13,  1745: 
''Voted  that  Daniel  Moody  make  a  grave  cloth." 

At  this  period  all  persons  were  expected  to  lay  aside  their 
daily  occupations  in  order  to  be  present  at  funerals,  attendance 
there  being  considered  hardly  less  obligatory  than  at  cliurch 
services. 

It  used  to  be  said  that  the  ordeal  which  awaited  the  mourn- 


32  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

ers  upon  the  ensuing  Sabbath  was  even  harder  to  bear  than  the 
funeral  exercises.  It  was  customary  for  the  minister  to  read 
from  the  pulpit  such  notices  as  the  following:    "Mr.  and  Mrs. 

desire  the  prayers  of  this  church  and  congregation  that 

the  recent  death  of  their  son  may  be  sanctified  to  them  for  their 
spiritual  good.  Their  children  join  in  the  same  request."  Then 
the  whole  family  arose  and  stood  in  their  pew  while  the  pastor 
prayed  for  them. 

Friends  of  the  sick  also  sent  in  requests  for  prayers,  and 
within  a  century  notices  like  the  following  were  read  in  the 

South  Hadley  meeting  house:  ''Mr. ,  who  this  week  sets 

out  for  York  State,  asks  the  prayers  of  the  congregation  for  his 
safe  return." 

The  story  of  South  Hadley 's  first  burial  place,  as  it  has  been 
handed  down  from  generation  to  generation,  forms  one  of  the 
most  pathetic  incidents  in  the  history  of  the  town.  In  1727 
the  insistent  courage  and  energy  of  John  Preston  had  enabled 
him  to  build  the  second  frame  dwelling  house  ever  erected  south 
of  Mt.  Holyoke.  One  of  the  first  public  necessities  of  a  new  set- 
tlement was  the  ''God's  Acre,"  consecrated  to  the  repose  of  the 
dead.  It  was  usually  placed  near  the  meeting  house  in  order 
that  the  worshipers  might  be  constantly  reminded  of  their  own 
mortality.  We  had  at  this  time  no  church  building  nearer  than 
Hadley,  and  public  opinion  demanded  that  the  burying  ground 
should  be  so  central  that  the  mourners  could  walk  from  the  house 
to  the  grave.  We  find  local  ministers  as  late  as  1841  telling  their 
congregations  that  the  only  proper  method  of  procedure  at 
funerals  was  for  the  bereaved  family  and  friends  to  walk  from 
the  home  to  the  place  of  interment. 

Early  in  1728  John  Preston,  who  owned  a  tract  of  land  on 
the  west  side  of  College  street,  nearly  opposite  the  Mary  Lyon 
Chapel,  offered  to  give  three  acres  to  be  used  as  a  resting  place 
for  the  dead.  It  had  been  known  as  Sandy  Hill,  and,  lying  at 
the  junction  of  two  highways,  it  seemed  a  convenient  place  of 
burial.  In  February  of  this  year  he  was  called  to  Hadley,  prob- 
ably owing  to  the  illness  of  his  parents.  During  his  absence 
there    occurred    the    death  of  an  infant,  and  a  message  was 


EAELY  LIFE  IN  SOUTH  HADLEY  33 

sent  to  him  begging  him  to  return  to  South  Hadley  long  enough 
to  decide  upon  a  place  of  interment.  Being  near  the  Connecticut 
he  borrowed  a  canoe  and  came  dojn  the  river  to  South  Harbor 
(Smith's  Ferry).  After  landing  he  threaded  the  narrow  foot- 
path up  to  Sandy  Hill,  and  located  what  was  afterwards  known 
as  the  Old  Graveyard.  Upon  his  return  a  cold  rain  set  in,  and 
the  pitiless  sleet  fell  ceaselessly  upon  the  open  boat.  This  ex- 
posure was  followed  by  a  severe  illness. 

A  town  meeting  had  been  appointed  in  Hadley  for  the  pur- 
pose of  ratifying  his  gift,  and  on  March  fourth  the  records  tell 
us  that  it  was  voted:  *'Jno.  Nash  and  Lieut.  Jno.  Smith  be  Im- 
proved to  View  the  place,  and  Lay  it  out  in  such  form  and  quan- 
titee  as  they  shall  think  Best,  not  to  exceed  three  Acres  in  quan- 
titee. ' '    It  was  on  this  very  day  that  the  donor  breathed  his  last. 

Stalwart  men  brought  John  Preston  home,  for  it  would  have 
been  looked  upon  as  an  unparalleled  disrespect  if  oxen  or  horses 
had  been  permitted  to  aid  in  the  conveyance.  He  was  interred 
upon  the  exact  spot  where  now  stands  the  Gaylord  Library,  a 
fitting  memorial  for  the  two  generous  men,  one  of  whom  gave  the 
land  and  the  other  the  building.  His  headstone,  which  has  been 
moved  farther  west,  bears  the  following  inscription: 

JOHN   PRESTON 
DYEI^    on    MARCH    Y    4    1727^ 
AGED   41   YEAR  AND   THE 
Y  FIRST   HERE   BURIED 

He  was  buried  with  his  feet  toward  the  east  in  order  that 
he  might  rise  facing  the  dawn,  where  he  believed  that  Christ 
would  appear  on  the  morning  of  the  Resurrection.  This  prac- 
tice was  continued  in  the  Old  Cemetery  until  after  1800. 

There  was  a  curious  superstition  in  regard  to  the  treatment 
of  honey  bees,  when,  as  sometimes  happened,  a  death  occurred 
in  the  family  of  their  owner.  It  was  a  common  belief  that  if  the 
news  of  this  event  were  not  conveyed  to  these  little  insects,  they 
might  be  angered  and  return  to  the  wooded  sides  of  Mt.  Holyoke. 


34  m  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

The  messenger  usually  selected,  if  one  may  judge  from  the  old- 
time  paintings  of  her,  was  a  young  girl  clad  in  the  habiliments 
of  mourning,  and  carrying  a  piece  of  black  cloth  to  place  upon 
the  hive. 

Mr.  A.,  one  of  the  farmers  in  this  vicinity,  has  left  us  his  ex- 
perience. Previous  to  his  father's  last  illness  the  bees  had  all 
been  carried  into  an  unused  chamber,  in  order  to  protect  them 
from  the  wintry  storms  and  snow.  He  said  that  just  before  his 
father's  death  they  became  restless  and  uneasy,  and  strange 
sounds  were  heard  within  the  hive.  This  lasted  for  several  days, 
but  after  the  funeral  the  bees  having  been  told  what  had  hap- 
pened again  became  quiet. 

A  New  England  poet  thus  describes  the  customary  method 
of  imparting  this  information : 

''Before  them,  under  the  garden  wall. 
Forward  and  back. 
Went  drearily  singing  the  chore-girl  small. 
Draping  each  hive  with  a  shred  of  black. 
And  the  song  she  was  singing  ever  since 
In  my  ear  sounds  on: 
'  Stay  at  home,  pretty  bees,  fly  not  hence ! 
Mistress  Mary  is  dead  and  gone!'  " 


CHAPTER  THIRD 

EAKLY  LIFE  IN   SOUTH   HADLEY    (CONCLUDED) 

NEIGHBORHOOD  gatherings  were  far  more  frequent  in 
olden  times  than  at  the  present  day,  for  whenever  there 
was  extra  work  to  be  done  the  young  people  promptly 
suggested  having  a  Bee. 

We  find  from  the  records  that  on  an  average  each  family 
used  from  ten  to  fifteen  barrels  of  cider  a  year.  This,  how- 
ever, was  not  intended  wholly  for  use  as  a  beverage.  During 
the  autumn  fresh,  sweet  cider  was  boiled  down  into  a  syrup,  and 
great  kegs  of  cider  apple  sauce,  more  delicious  than  most  pre- 
serves, were  stored  in  the  cellar  for  the  winter's  use.  Its  prep- 
aration entailed  the  paring,  quartering  and  coring  of  many 
bushels  of  apples,  and  gave  occasion  for  holding  a  paring  bee. 

Upon  the  appointed  evening  the  young  men,  with  their  jack- 
knives  sharpened  to  a  fine  edge,  repaired  to  the  home  of  the 
hostess,  whither  the  girls  had  already  preceded  them.  The  lat- 
ter were  provided  with  long  wooden  trenchers,  intended  for  the 
reception  of  the  cores  and  parings,  and  the  hearts  of  the  maidens 
fluttered  with  uncertainty  as  to  which  of  the  comely  swains 
would  ask  to  share  her  trencher,  and  so  work  beside  her  through 
the  flying  hours. 

As  they  neared  the  end  of  their  labors,  each  youth  in  turn 
selected  a  smooth,  round  apple  and  pared  it  carefully  so  that 
he  might  not  break  the  skin.  Taking  this  paring  in  his  hand  he 
whirled  it  above  his  head,  then  threw  it  upon  the  table.  The 
judges  decided  which  letter  of  the  alphabet  it  most  resembled, 
this  being  supposed  to  indicate  the  initial  of  the  girl's  name 
whom  he  was — in  the  parlance  of  that  day — to  see  home.  If  the 
letter  could  be  construed  into  an  "  S  "  or  a  *  *  P, "  it  was  sure  to  be 
translated  into  Sally  Piper,  for  that  fun-loving  damsel  was  a 
great  favorite  among  her  young  companions,  albeit  she  was  on 
Sundays  the  despair  of  the  tithing  man,  whose  voice  could  some- 


36  m  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

times  be  heard  halfway  across  the  meeting  house,  "Attention! 
Sally  Piper,  attention ! ' ' 

After  the  apples  were  finished  came  games  and  refresh- 
ments. Wooden  keelers  were  heaped  high  with  nut  cakes, — more 
familiarly  known  now  as  raised  doughnuts, — pewter  platters 
were  piled  with  squares  of  golden  gingerbread,  sweetened  with 
maple  syrup,  since  molasses  must  be  brought  from  far.  There 
were  cheese  and  cider  everywhere,  but  when  the  hour  of  nine 
arrived,  cordial  good-nights  were  exchanged,  and  the  crowd  of 
merry-makers  went  home. 

These  social  methods  of  bearing  one  another 's  burdens  were 
a  marked  characteristic  of  both  South  Hadley  and  Granby. 
There  were  spinning  bees,  knitting  bees,  quiltings,  chopping 
bees,  mowing  bees  and  husking  parties;  to  say  nothing  of  the 
raisings,  which  were  always  convivial  affairs. 

At  the  raising  of  Dr.  Dwight's  new  house  (now  the  College 
Infirmary),  he  purchased  a  new  washtub  to  be  used  as  a  punch 
bowl.  The  day  was  a  rainy  one  and  a  shelter  was  erected  in 
which  to  take  refuge  when  the  storm  was  too  violent,  and  the 
impromptu  punch  bowl  proved  so  alluring  that  even  the  deacon 
went  staggering  home.  But  this  was  before  the  days  of  the 
temperance  reformation. 

The  raising  of  a  meeting  house  was  an  even  more  thirsty 
affair.  Volunteers  came  from  other  towns  to  assist,  and  the 
cider  barrel  that  had  received  several  decanters  of  wine,  was 
considered  suitable  for  such  occasions. 

Deacon  David  Nash  went  from  here  as  a  delegate  to  a  neigh- 
boring town  which  was  about  to  build  a  church.  The  committee, 
of  which  he  was  one,  staked  out  the  site,  while  the  townspeople 
held  a  meeting  and  voted  to  ''procure  a  sufficient  quantity  of  rum 
for  raising  the  frame  of  the  meeting  house. ' ' 

Spinning  bees  appear  to  have  been  the  ones  that  ranked 
highest  in  the  estimation  of  our  great-grandmothers.  These 
were  of  two  kinds.  The  first  was  an  informal  affair ;  the  girls  in 
the  neighborhood,  between  services  on  Sunday,  agreed  upon  the 
day  when  and  the  house  where  they  would  meet.  At  the  ap- 
pointed time  and  place  all  appeared,  bringing  their  small  wheels 


EARLY  LIFE  IX  SOUTH  HABLEY  37 

and  bunches  of  flax.  The  afternoon  was  spent  in  friendly  gos- 
sip, with  a  bit  of  half-suppressed  rivalry  as  to  which  of  them 
would  first  finish  her  stent.  Then  home  to  supper,  singing 
blithely  as  they  went. 

The  other  kind  of  spinning  bees  were  somewhat  like  a  sur- 
prise party.  If  any  woman  were  ill  or  unable  to  provide  cloth- 
ing for  her  family,  or  if  the  minister's  wife  had  a  young  babe 
to  care  for,  then  the  elder  women  joined  with  the  younger,  and 
ox  carts  conveyed  the  large  wheels  to  the  desired  place.  Some 
carried  flax  or  wool,  others  gave  their  time  and  work,  but  each 
one  brought  some  article  of  food  for  the  sumptuous  repast  that 
closed  the  afternoon,  and  at  which  the  preserves  were  put  up 
pound  for  pound,  and  the  hung  beef  was  beyond  the  imagination 
of  any  modern  epicure. 

Prettiest  of  all  were  the  children's  knitting  bees.  Every 
child  carried  his  or  her  stocking  to  the  party.  At  a  given  signal 
each  one  put  in  a  mark,  and  they  knit  with  a  swiftness  and 
evenness  that  could  find  no  parallel  among  the  youth  of  to-day. 

The  men  and  women  of  past  generations,  in  Granby  and 
South  Hadley,  strong  both  physically  and  morally,  proved  that 
the  old-fashioned  bees  had  not  been  held  in  vain.  Their  com- 
parative and  mutual  isolation  from  the  outside  world  may  have 
accounted  in  some  measure  for  the  social  activity  of  these  two 
towns.  Hemmed  in  on  the  north  by  the  Holyoke  Range,  and  on 
the  west  by  the  Connecticut,  they  were  bounded  on  the  south 
partly  by  the  river  and  partly  by  a  line  through,  or  near,  that 
dreaded  lair.  Misery  Swamp.  Upon  the  east  lay  a  strip  of  wood- 
land, broken  only  by  a  single  cart  track,  so  rough  that  about 
1760  the  town  was  indicted  for  ''not  keeping  in  repair  the  road 
to  Cold  Spring." 

In  the  early  years,  when  Granby  and  South  Hadley  were 
one,  this  seclusion  seemed  to  make  of  it  a  miniature  republic. 
There  was  no  postal  service,  no  stage  route  to  give  communica- 
tion with  the  outer  world. 

Towns  in  this  vicinity  received  and  sent  mail  but  twice  a 
month,  for  the  post-carriers  had  been  allowed  nine  days  in  which 
to  travel  forty  miles  with  their  letters  and  papers. 


38  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

Each  house  here  was  a  small  apothecary  shop,  for  in  case 
of  illness  in  the  family  no  doctor  could  be  obtained  except  by 
crossing  Mt.  Holyoke,  or,  making  a  wide  detour  around  its  base. 
And  if  a  physician  came,  he  charged  for  every  visit  eight  times 
his  usual  fee.  Ministers  were  at  that  era  expected  to  bleed  their 
parishioners  if  necessary,  and  to  be  able  to  administer  calomel 
and  other  medicines.  Parson  Woodbridge  probably  had  some 
medical  knowledge,  for  his  eldest  son  began  practice  as  a  physi- 
cian here  in  1765. 

In  this  community  of  interests,  they  were  able  to  build  their 
own  houses ;  manufacture  their  own  clothing ;  provide  their  own 
lighting ;  and  raise  crops  which,  with  the  aid  of  their  hunting  and 
fishing,  furnished  sufficient  food  for  their  families. 

The  men  were  all  farmers,  even  to  the  minister,  but  most 
of  them  had  some  other  occupation.  One  was  a  carpenter,  an- 
other a  blacksmith,  the  third  a  tanner,  while  the  shoemaker,  the 
pumpmaker,  and  a  score  of  others  could  meet  any  emergency. 

Exchange  of  labor,  or  as  they  termed  it, ' '  swapping  work, ' ' 
and  barter,  left  but  few  money  transactions  to  be  recorded. 
Their  old  account  books  read  thus:  the  carpenter  credits  John 
Lane*  with  a  twenty- two  pound  salmon,  five  shillings  and  adds. 
"John  Lane,  Dr.  to  mending  your  flore,  seven  shillings."  The 
cobbler  debits  Joseph  Hillyer.  "To  making  and  mending  shews, 
3£  dew  to  me."  "In  ye  yere  1732  to  help  mak  smoak  house,  3 
shil.  6d. "    "  Credit  one  fox  skin  8  shil.  6d. ' ' 

The  first  pumpmaker  in  our  town  was  Ephraim  Nash,  a 
man  who  might  justly  have  been  proud  of  his  lineage  since  he 
was  a  grandson  of  that  eminent  divine,  Kev.  Samuel  Stone.  He 
was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers,  coming  in  1727,  but  apparently 
found  small  opportunity  for  exercising  his  craft. 


*John  Lane  was  a  famous  athlete,  a  man  of  remarkable  strength;  it  is  said 
that  he  once  asked  a  neighbor  for  the  loan  of  a  large  iron  kettle.  She  replied 
that  he  was  welcome  to  the  use  of  it,  but  it  was  so  heavy  she  feared  he  could 
not  carry  it  a  long  distance.  Upon  this  he  swung  the  kettle  up,  and  placed  it 
upon  his  head.  He  then  carried  it  into  the  woods  in  order  to  use  it  in  making 
maple  sugar.  He  once  walked  from  here  to  Westminster,  Vermont,  in  a  single 
day,  a  distance  of  over  sixty  miles.  He  was  janitor  of  our  first  meeting  house, 
sweeping  the  building  with  husk  brooms,  or  birch  twigs,  and  on  Sunday  morn- 
ings he  went  through  the  streets  blowing  a  conch  shell  to  remind  people  that  it 
was  time  to  assemble  at  the  meeting  house. 


EARLY  LIFE  IN  SOUTH  HADLEY  39 

People  remembered  the  long  well-sweeps  and  old  oaken 
buckets,  and  distrusted  the  new  invention.  But  after  a  time 
wooden  pumps  came  into  use,  big,  clumsy  affairs,  with  a  handle 
three  or  four  feet  long.  The  spout  was  a  flat  piece  of  wood,  with 
projections  upon  two  sides  to  prevent  the  overflow  of  water, 
which  despite  this  precaution  would  spatter  to  a  distance  of 
several  feet  if  the  handle  were  moved  quickly  or  with  a  jerk. 

The  following  account  of  their  introduction  was  given  to  the 
author  by  an  aged  man,  and  though  there  is  no  definite  proof  that 
the  incident  occurred  within  our  boundaries,  it  may  not  be 
uninteresting  as  showing  the  difficulties  that  Ephraim  Nash  was 
obliged  to  encounter : 

One  of  the  progressive  farmers  of  the  town  announced  that 
upon  a  certain  day,  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  he  would 
bring  up  water  from  his  well  without  the  aid  of  his  iron-bound 
bucket.  This  promise  was  treated  with  derisive  merriment,  yet 
at  the  appointed  time  a  crowd  had  assembled.  They  saw  only 
a  tall  figure,  shrouded  in  white,  standing  on  the  edge  of  the  well, 
and  beside  it  the  farmer,  who  explained  that  something  was 
wrong.  He  requested  them  to  retire  for  half  an  hour  to  some 
place  out  of  view  and  then  return.  The  crowd  departed  with 
mocking  laughter  and  jeering  remarks.  At  the  expiration  of  the 
time  they  came  again,  and  saw  to  their  surprise  that  the  owner 
had  divested  his  new  pump  of  its  covering.  Lifting  the  handle 
he  sent  a  stream  of  water  into  the  waiting  tub.  When  they  had, 
as  the  old  man  said,  "sensed  it,"  it  seemed  to  them  like  witch- 
craft, and  they  were  quick  to  ask  the  owner's  pardon  for  their 
previous  gibes. 

During  the  last  few  decades,  all,  or  nearly  all,  of  these  old 
wooden  pumps  have  disappeared  from  our  town. 

Wells  played  an  important  part  in  the  household  econ- 
omy, for  they  assuaged  thirst,  promoted  cleanliness,  were  the 
only  firewardens,  and  during  the  August  weather  were  the  most 
convenient  places  for  the  preservation  of  fresh  meat  and  yeast. 
These  articles  were  each  put  into  a  pail  and  suspended  above  the 
surface  of  the  water  by  a  cord  which  was  attached  to  a  small  bar 
near  the  top  of  the  curb.    This  rendered  it  at  times  a  rather  in- 


40  IX  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

secure  refrigerator,  for  if  the  cord  were  old,  or  carelessly  tied,  i* 
was  liable  to  drop,  letting  the  pail  and  its  contents  fall  to  the 
bottom  of  the  well.  Lowering  a  lighted  candle,  the  big,  three 
pronged  well  hook, — one  of  which  must  be  kept  in  every  neigh- 
borhood,— was  now  produced,  and  the  subsequent  fishing  was 
apt  to  be  a  long  process. 

Some  inventive,  or  imitative,  genius  persuaded  a  few  of  our 
leading  families  to  try  a  new  experiment  which,  it  was  claimed, 
would  obviate  this  trouble.  An  oblong  pit  was  dug  in  the  ground, 
in  a  shady  place,  its  sides  being  stoned  like  those  of  a  well.  In 
winter  this  pit  was  filled  with  blocks  of  ice,  carefully  packed  in 
hay,  and  thick  planks  were  laid  across  the  top.  Over  these  was 
placed  a  roof,  not  more  than  seven  feet  in  height  at  the  apex, 
and  slanting  sharply  to  the  ground.  In  one  of  the  gables  was  a 
door,  and  a  short  ladder  always  lay  beside  it  ready  for  use  as 
the  season  advanced.  By  the  middle,  or  at  most  by  the  last  of 
July,  the  contents  of  the  pit  were  aU  melted. 

A  son  of  one  of  our  early  settlers,  whose  father  had  removed 
to  Granby,  determined  to  try  building  an  icehouse  above  ground. 
This  idea  was  scoffed  at  by  our  townsmen.  ''If  ice  could  not 
be  preserved  under  ground,  it  never  would  remain  frozen  near 
the  surface, ' '  said  they.  Paying  no  heed  to  this  adverse  opinion, 
he  proceeded  to  erect  a  stout  reservoir,  more  than  twelve  feet 
square,  and  this  he  banked  with  earth  till  one  might  have  ex- 
pected to  see  an  ancient  mound-builder  issuing  therefrom. 

Over  the  top  of  this  he  placed  a  one-roomed  structure,  which 
was  known  as  the  milkhouse  or  dairy.  A  trap  door  in  the  floor 
of  the  latter  gave  access  to  the  chamber  beneath.  This  icehouse 
was  intended  mainly  for  the  preservation  of  food,  since  cold 
water  for  drinking  purposes  could  be  obtained  at  any  hour  from 
the  time-honored  bucket  that  hung  in  the  well.  A  pipe  had  been 
so  arranged  that  water  could  be  easily  pumped  into  the  tank.  As 
soon  as  the  cold  weather  of  winter  had  penetrated  its  thick  walls 
to  such  a  degree  that  it  would  freeze  water,  this  huge  cistern 
was  flooded,  to  a  depth  of  two  or  three  inches,  which  by  the  next 
morning  would  be  changed  to  ice.  This  process  was  repeated  day 
by  day  until  the  tank  was  filled  with  a  solid  block  of  ice,  twelve 


EABXY  LIFE  IX  SOUTH  HADLEY  41 

feet  square,  some  part  of  which  remained  congealed  until  the 
ensuing  autumn. 

The  South  Hadley  yeomanry  immediately  patterned  after 
this  new  device,  but,  as  they  believed,  improved  upon  their  model. 
In  building  their  reservoirs,  they  inserted  a  door  in  the  northern 
wall  in  order  that  they  might  fill  it  with  blocks  of  ice  from  the 
nearest  pond.  These  were  obtained  by  cutting  them  out  with 
axes  or  saws,  but  were  so  irregular  in  shape  that  after  being 
packed  great  air  spaces  remained  between  them.  This  they 
remedied  by  closing  up  the  door  and  pouring  cold  water  from 
above  till  every  crevice  was  filled.  This  formed  a  mass  of  ice 
that  kept  their  own  food  and  that  of  their  neighbors  fresh  and 
sweet  through  the  sultry  August  weather. 

Improvements  in  arts  and  crafts  were,  at  the  first,  almost 
wholly  dependent  upon  the  skill  and  ingenuity  of  the  settlers, 
since  their  communication  with  the  rest  of  the  world  was  but 
limited.  Letters  and  newspapers,  which  might  have  been  such 
a  solace,  were  in  a  great  measure  denied  them.  It  was  not  until 
1792  that  a  postofiBce  was  established  in  Northampton,  which 
received  and  sent  out  a  mail  once  a  week.  TTe  know  that  South 
Hadley  and  G-ranby  were  allowed  to  share  in  its  benefits,  for  in 
Northampton's  first  list  of  unclaimed  letters  occurs  the  name  of 
Joseph  Eastman,  Granby.  During  the  next  decade  getting  the 
mail  proved  to  be  an  arduous  undertaking,  but  on  January  1, 
1803,  to  the  gi'eat  .joy  of  our  inhabitants,  a  postoffice  was  estab- 
lished here,  probably  bringing  the  weekly  mail  on  Fridays.  The 
former  strictness  in  regard  to  Sabbath  observance  was  so  far 
relaxed  that  on  Sundays  the  postoffice  was  opened  during  the 
intermission  between  the  morning  and  afternoon  services,  in 
order  that  those  of  the  congregation  who  lived  in  remote  neigh- 
borhoods could  get  their  mail.  It  was  argued  that  as  the  laws 
compelling  church  attendance  under  penalty  of  fime  and  imprison- 
ment had  been  repealed,  this  would  prove  an  incentive  for  the 
worshipers  to  be  present  at  divine  service. 

In  1816  Northampton  had  three  mails  a  week,  and  in  case  of 
iUness  or  emergency,  individuals  going  from  here  could  obtain 
their  Saturdav  nisrht's  mail.    The  inconvenience  of  this  arrange- 


42  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

ment  is  well  illustrated  by  the  following  extract  from  an  old  let- 
ter : 

'    ^'  .  ^.  '^ South  Hadley,  Dec.  7,  1808. 

"We  have  been  long  anxious,  very  anxious  about  you.  It  is 
bad  getting  to  Northampton;  Bachelor's  Brook  overflows,  and 
there  is  ice  in  the  river — but  we  can  go  over  the  bridge  at  Had- 
ley. 

"We  sent  Horace  on  Sunday  after  a  letter,  but  he  could  not 
get  over  the  river,  on  account  of  the  wind  being  very  high.  In 
the  evening  we  hired  Barber  to  go,  and  he  rode  nearly  twenty 
miles,  bro't  the  letter,  got  here  at  eleven  o'clock." 

Though  the  doings  of  the  external  world  were  but  slightly 
known  here  before  the  Revolution,  that  was  not  the  case  in  re- 
gard to  local  happenings.  With  the  aid  of  social  gatherings,  the 
itinerant  shoemaker,  the  school  teacher  who  boarded  round,  and 
later  on  the  tailoress  and  the  dressmaker,  who  made  semi-annual 
visits  to  each  family,  but  little  news  remained  untold. 

The  advent  of  the  shoemaker  and  his  bench  was  hailed  with 
delight  by  both  young  and  old,  for  it  was  a  cardinal  article  of 
belief  that  every  person  should  have  each  year  a  new  pair  of 
leather  shoes:  stout  cowhide  for  the  men;  calfskin  for  the 
women  and  children.  When  the  shoemaker  came  with  his 
wooden  lasts,  lapstone  and  the  implements  of  his  trade,  he  estab- 
lished himself  near  the  big  fireplace,  in  order  to  use  its  light  to 
work  by  in  the  evenings ;  and  his  favorite  ditty  was : 
"There  was  a  cobbler  who  lived  in  a  coom, 

And  all  he  wanted  was  elbow  room,  elbow  room." 
He  measured  the  feet  of  each  member  of  the  family,  and  if  he 
had  no  last  of  their  exact  size,  promptly  shaped  one  out  of  wood. 
He  always  expected  a  pitcher  of  cider  to  be  placed  ready  at 
hand.  A  certain  family  once  forgot  this  requirement.  Wishing 
to  remind  them  of  it,  he  tried  to  soften  his  request  by  putting 
it  into  rhyme,  and  calmly  remarked : 

"While  here  I  set,  and  work  and  sweat 
By  candle  and  by  fire, 
My  throat  grows  dry,  I  can 't  deny 
Some  cider  I  require." 


EARLY  LIFE  IN"  SOUTH  HADLEY  43 

Upon  this  the  longed-for  beverage  was  at  once  forthcoming. 

The  shoes  were  usually  paid  for  in  skins,  which  required  a 
year's  time  for  tanning  into  leather;  but  there  was  so  little 
money  in  circulation  that  even  the  hired  girl's  wages  were  paid 
by  barter,  as  witness  this  extract  from  an  old  account  book : 

"January,  1770. 
Elizabeth  Lemon  came  Frydey  night,  Jan.  5,  and  tarried  til 
Saterday  noon,  May  5,  save  two  days. 

She  hed  two  pair  of  shoes $1.98 

2  second-hand  quilts  (agreed) 98 

4I/2  yards  of  shallon 2.00 

Money  2.00 

Shoes  mended  several  times 20 

A  Portion  of  Species  Hiera  Cure 20 

A  check 'd  Linnen  Apron  (agreed) 50 

Six  coppers  to  balance 52 

$8.38" 

A  servant  girl's  wages  at  this  era  averaged  from  fifty  to 
seventy-five  cents  per  week,  but  she  was  never  called  a  servant ; 
she  was  known  as  the  help,  or  as  one  of  our  later  ministers 
dubbed  her,  "my  wife's  domestic  coadjutor." 

This  scarcity  of  money  gave  rise  to  many  inconveniences, 
and  among  them  may  be  numbered  the  dearth  of  hymn  books  in 
the  Sunday  services  of  song.  This  compelled  the  "lining  out" 
of  the  stanzas.  Either  a  deacon  or  the  precentor  read  the  first 
line  and  the  congregation  then  sang  it,  and  each  line  was  fol- 
lowed in  the  same  manner  to  the  end  of  the  hymn.  ^ 

The  old  tuning  fork  which  set  the  pitch  was  found  in  the 
garret  of  the  old  Woodbridge  House. 

It  was  an  old  saying  that  a  good  singer  could  marry  any 
woman  that  he  pleased ;  or,  as  an  English  poet  expressed  it : 
"A  blockhead  of  melodious  voice 
In  boarding  schools  can  take  his  choice. ' ' 

In  providing  good  music  for  the  sanctuary,  South  Hadley 
antedated  many  of  the  surrounding  towns.  In  1765  John  Stick- 
ney  brought  to  this  vicinity  new  methods  and  tunes  for  singers. 


44  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

Nathaniel  White  was  at  this  time  a  lad  of  sixteen,  while  his 
brother  Ezekiel  was  five  years  younger.  Both  boys  became  so 
deeply  interested  that  the  elder  one  afterwards  taught  a  singing 
school  for  twenty-six  seasons,  and  the  younger  supplied  his 
brother's  place,  it  is  believed,  during  the  latter 's  absence  in 
the  army.  John  Stickney,  too,  was  so  much  pleased  at  his  cor- 
dial reception  here,  that  he  eventually  made  this  town  his  home, 
and  the  committee  in  charge  of  seating  the  people  in  church  as- 
signed him  a  place  in  a  big,  square  pew  with  two  widows,  one 
of  whom  he  is  said  to  have  married. 

There  had  been  another  teacher  of  singing,  Josiah  Draper, 
the  Fall  Woods'  schoolmaster,  but  his  lack  of  patience  disquali- 
fied him  for  this  office.  He  was  very  nervous  and  if  a  pupil 
failed  in  keeping  exact  time  it  put  him  in  a  passion,  and  his 
penalties  were  severe.  He  was  precentor  in  1777,  and  judging 
from  his  diary,  the  number  of  tunes  with  which  he  had  become 
acquainted  was  for  those  days  surprisingly  great. 

These  three  men,  officered  doubtless  by  John  Stickney,  had 
brought  about  a  great  change  in  our  Sunday  services.  There 
had  been  a  determined  effort  on  the  part  of  the  young  people  to 
do  away  with  the  '* lining  out"  of  the  hymns  and  to  have  the 
singing  conducted  by  a  choir,  who  should  occupy  the  gallery  op- 
posite the  pulpit.  This  proposal  had  awakened  a  fierce  storm 
of  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  older  members  of  the  congre- 
gation, who  declared  they  would  not  attend  church  under  such 
circumstances.  They  protested  against  the  extravagance  of 
paying  so  much  for  new  singing  books,  and  were  sure  that  it 
would  be  an  entering  wedge  for  the  introduction  of  wooden  and 
brass  musical  instruments  into  the  meeting  house,  as  indeed 
proved  true.  Their  ancestors,  they  said,  had  come  hither  to 
avoid  the  set  forms  of  prayer  used  in  the  Church  of  England, 
but  now  if  they  began  to  sing  by  rule  they  would  soon  pray  by 
rule. 

Everyone  had  been  taught  six  tunes,  three  for  the  forenoon 
and  three  for  the  afternoon  service,  and  anything  more  was 
simply  superfluous. 

Feeling  ran  so  high  in  this  and  adjacent  towns,  that  one 


EARLY  LIFE  IN  SOUTH  HADLEY  45 

minister  complained  of  a  certain  parishioner,  who  refused  to  re- 
turn his  sahitation  when  they  met,  and  entered  in  his  diary, — 
'' Several  of  my  neighbors  seemed  very  uneasy  about  the  sing- 
ing, some,  I  fear,  kept  from  meeting  upon  this  account.  Lord 
help  and  direct!  Compose  their  minds  that  are  ruffled!  Oh, 
chain  up  Satan!    Forgive  and  direct  me." 

Tradition  tells  us  that  the  first  concession  in  South  Hadley, 
was  the  omitting  to  line  out  the  closing  hymn  on  Sunday  after- 
noon, permission  to  retire  from  the  house  having  first  been  given 
to  those  who  did  not  wish  to  listen  to  the  choir.  This  arrange- 
ment did  not  satisfy  either  party.  It  seemed  to  detract  from  the 
sanctity  of  worship  to  see  a  part  of  the  congregation  rise  and 
file  out  with  flashing  eyes  and  angry  steps.  The  exciting  events 
that  culminated  in  the  battle  of  Lexington,  brought  our  town 
into  greater  contact  with  the  outside  world,  and  a  broader  vision 
of  the  future  opened  before  them.  In  1776  the  whole  of  the  after- 
noon service,  as  far  as  the  music  was  concerned,  was  given  up  to 
the  choir,  and  no  longer  could  the  sonorous  voice  of  Josiah 
Draper  ring  out  the  words  of  his  old-fashioned  Psalm — 

* '  My  soul  gave  me  a  sudden  twitch. 
That  made  me  nimbly  slide. 
Like  unto  the  chariot  in  which 
Amminadab  did  ride." 

With  the  advent  of  Dr.  G.  W.  Lucas  as  the  singing  master,  a 
new  and  varied  list  of  tunes  was  introduced.  He  was  a  very 
tall  man,  of  gentlemanly  bearing,  and  polished  speech.  The 
singing  schools  were  held  in  our  old  Mount  Tom  Academy,  and 
he  was  often  annoyed  by  the  older  boys  who  lingered  near  the 
fire  after  the  hour  for  opening  had  arrived.  One  evening  he  said 
to  them,  '*If  those  who  have  imbibed  a  sufficient  degree  of  caloric 
will  approximate  to  their  seats,  we  can  begin."  Awed  by  the 
mingled  dignity  and  length  of  words,  the  shivering  youths 
obeyed. 

After  the  national  and  state  quarrels  had  been  settled,  a 
musical  war  arose  in  South  Hadley.  The  choir  had  been  ar- 
ranged according  to  their  rank,  the  best  singer  being  placed  at 


46  IX  OLD  SOITH  HADLEY 

the  head  of  the  line,  and  the  poorest  at  the  foot.  This  gave  rise 
to  much  bitterness  and  jealousy.  One  of  the  leading  sopranos, 
\rho  was  angry  becanse  the  minister's  daughter  had  been  seated 
above  her.  said  mdely:  '•'Who  are  you.  anyway?  Your  father 
is  supported  by  the  town.''  In  one  family  the  eldest  daughter 
had  won  the  highest  place  at  the  head  of  the  choir,  while  her 
sister  was  number  three.  As  they  had  but  one  book  between 
them,  and  wished  to  look  it  over  together,  they  asked  number  two 
to  change  places  with  the  younger  sister.  This  she  promptly  re- 
fused to  do,  but  offered  to  exchange  with  the  elder  one.  The 
trouble  increased  as  others  took  sides  in  the  affair,  and  the  mat- 
ter was  finally  referred  to  the  minister  for  settlement.  After 
mature  deliberation,  he  decided  that  number  two  should  sit  at 
the  head  of  the  choir  half  of  the  time,  but  upon  every  alternate 
Sabbath  should  take  her  place  as  third,  bringing  the  two  sisters 
side  by  side  at  each  service,  and  thus  was  harmony  restored. 

These  bickerings  were  done  away  with  in  18.35,  when  Mr. 
Dexter  Ingraham  was  made  chorister.  He  arranged  his  singers 
in  the  order  of  their  ages,  and  remembering  the  old  adage, 
""Where  McGregor  sits,  that  is  the  head  of  the  table,"  he  taught 
them  that  where  the  best  singer  sat  would  be  the  real  head  of 
the  choir.  He  was  a  man  whose  heart  was  fully  given  to  music, 
and  for  twenty-five  years  imparted  his  enthusiasm  to  his  fellow 
musicians.  He  was  succeeded,  at  his  own  request,  by  Mr.  "Wil- 
liam Smith,  whose  gentleness  and  tact  kept  the  chorus  of  sixty 
voices  united  and  peaceful  for  another  quarter  of  a  century. 
This  chorus  was  led  by  an  orchestra  consisting  of  the  large 
and  the  small  bass  viols,  three  violins,  a  bassoon,  and  a  como- 
peian,  aided  by  the  soft  notes  of  a  flute  played  by  John  Dwight, 
the  donor  of  the  art  gallery. 

Deacon  Hastings,  for  so  many  years  the  efiBcient  superin- 
tendent of  our  Sunday  School,  presided  over  the  big  bass-viol, 
and  Mr.  Xorman  Preston,  so  highly  respected  and  loved  both  as 
school  teacher  and  "committeeman,"  was  one  of  the  ^^olinists. 
It  was  not  he,  however,  who  went  to  the  minister  for  permission 
to  exchange  the  lines  in  the  hymn  book — 


EAITLY  LIFE  IX  SOUTH  HADLEY  47 

''Oh,  may  my  heart  in  tune  be  found 
Like  David's  harp  of  solemn  sound." 

and  sing  in  their  stead, 

' '  Oh,  may  my  heart  be  tuned  within 
Like  David's  solemn  violin." 

Our  grandfathers  used  to  tell  us  that  the  irate  parson  returned 
with  ready  satire,  ''Fine  as  your  version  is,  Brother,  I  think  I 
can  suggest  a  better.    How  would  it  do  to  sing — 

"Oh,  may  my  heart  go  diddle,  diddle. 
Like  Uncle  David's  sacred  fiddle." 

Whether  in  South  Hadley  or  not.  the  incident  actually  occurred. 

There  had  been  some  opposition  at  first  on  the  part  of  the 
ministers  to  admitting  so  much  instrumental  music.  One  of  our 
pastors,  who  had  no  ear  for  the  "Concord  of  Sweet  Sounds." 
happened  to  come  to  church  early  one  Sunday  morning,  while 
the  orchestra  were  turning  their  instruments.  As  soon  as  the 
service  was  concluded,  he  hastened  to  the  gallery  stairs,  in  order 
to  meet  the  players  on  their  way  out,  and  informed  them  in  a 
severe  tone  that  he  wanted  no  more  dance  music  in  his  church. 

Another  clergyman,  not  of  our  town,  when  the  musicians  sat 
down  at  the  close  of  the  anthem,  opened  his  Bible  at  the  twen- 
tieth chapter  of  Acts,  and  slowly  began  reading. — "And  after 
the  uproar  was  ceased ,"  there  was  a  perceptible  pause  be- 
fore he  finished  the  verse. 

The  Psalms  and  Hymns  of  Isaac  Watts  had  now  come  into 
use,  and  so  great  was  their  popularity  here  and  elsewhere  that 
at  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  publishers  sold  an- 
nually over  fifty  thousand  copies,  which  was  for  those  times  a 
wonderful  record. 


CHAPTER  FOURTH 

FEOM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE 

OUR  first  minister,  having  been  for  years  a  successful 
teacher,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  even  before  the 
completion  of  the  meeting  house,  a  school  building  was 
in  course  of  erection,  upon  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  dental 
office  of  Dr.  Preston. 

There  must  have  been  a  school  previous  to  this,  and  it  is  not 
impossible  that  our  ancestors  returned  to  the  old  English  custom 
of  having  it  kept  in  the  minister's  house,  for  the  living  room  in 
our  first  parsonage  was  twenty-five  feet  long  and  twenty  feet  in 
width,  and  the  fuel  to  heat  it  was  supplied  by  the  parish.  It  is 
a  fact  worthy  of  notice  that  the  precinct  did  not  vote  to  build  a 
schoolhouse  until  about  the  time  of  Rev.  Grindall  Rawson's 
marriage,  so  that  during  his  preceding  years  of  loneliness  he 
may  have  gladly  welcomed  the  children  of  his  parishioners.  The 
schoolhouse  when  completed  contained  but  one  room.  Across 
its  southern  side  yawned  an  immense  fireplace,  nearly  five  feet 
deep  and  wide  enough  to  take  in  logs  eight  or  ten  feet  long. 

In  order  to  sustain  the  winter  fire,  each  boy — girls  were  not 
allowed  to  attend  the  public  schools  at  this  era — was  expected 
to  furnish  a  cord  of  wood ;  and  if  any  careless  or  neglectful  par- 
ent failed  to  centribute  his  quota,  his  unhappy  son  was  straight- 
way ''sent  to  Coventry."  This  phrase  meant  that  his  fellows 
would  neither  speak  to  nor  play  with  him,  and  that  he  would  be 
scoffed  at  and  jeered  till  the  desired  wood  was  forthcoming. 

The  entire  frontage  of  the  schoolhouse  was  twenty-three 
feet,  five  of  which  were  used  in  enclosing  the  rough  chimney 
built  of  stones  and  hand-made  bricks.  Beneath  the  schoolroom 
was  a  cellar,  a  rare  thing  in  South  Hadley  in  those  days, — but  it 
had  been  excavated  simply  as  a  place  of  retreat  in  case  of  Indian 
attack.  By  means  of  an  underground  tunnel,  it  was  connected 
with  the  cellar  of  the  Woodbridge  parsonage  just  across  the 


FEOM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  49 

street.  Miss  Nancy  Burr,  who  taught  in  1821,  said  that  on 
rainy  days  the  children  often  amused  themselves  by  creeping 
in  and  out  of  the  tunnel ;  but  now  the  earth  has  fallen  in,  and  no 
trace  of  it  remains. 

Around  the  sides  of  the  room  not  occupied  by  the  fireplace 
two  series  of  boards  were  fastened  to  the  wall,  one  above  the 
other,  a  few  inches  apart.  These  served  as  desks  to  hold  their 
scanty  books  and  present  a  hard  surface  upon  which  they  could 
use  their  quill  pens  in  ciphering;  for  at  that  time  slates  and 
lead  pencils  were  still  unknown,  and  paper  was  so  scarce  and 
expensive  that  some  of  our  ancestors  used  to  "do  their  sums" 
with  a  sharp-pointed  stick  in  the  smooth  sand  outside — for  our 
village  center  was  at  first  known  only  as  Sand  Hill. 

For  such  pupils  as  were  rich  enough  to  afford  paper,  a  wild 
goose  must  be  shot  in  order  to  provide  pens,  and  it  was  not  the 
quills  surmounted  with  long,  handsome  feathers  that  were  in 
request,  but  those  that  were  short  and  stubby;  and  the  art  of 
making  them  into  pens  was  taught  in  our  schools.  A  clay  ink- 
stand in  use  here  in  1740  has  four  apertures  besides  the  inkwell, 
evidently  intended  to  hold  the  quills  which  were  thus  at  hand  in 
case  of  breakage. 

Their  ink  was  prepared  by  boiling  the  bark  from  an  oak 
tree  or  a  hard  maple  for  several  days,  adding  a  little  sugar  to 
the  decoction  in  order  to  give  the  writing  a  glossy  appearance. 

This  unfading  ink  has  preserved  for  us  the  records,  diaries 
and  account  books  of  our  early  settlers,  which  after  one  hundred 
and  eighty  years  are  still  legible. 

Another  process  by  which  ink  was  manufactured  was  as  fol- 
lows :  Green  peelings  of  walnuts  were  soaked  in  rain  water  for 
a  fortnight;  ''Stir  it  pretty  often,"  said  the  rule.  To  a  quart  of 
this  solution,  carefully  strained,  was  added  four  ounces  of  oak 
galls,  two  ounces  of  gum  arable,  and  in  order  to  prevent  it  from 
molding,  a  little  salt.  The  receipt  concludes  thus:  ''Let  these 
ingredients  stand  together  in  a  large  stone  bottle;  shake,  roll, 
or  stir  it  well  once  each  day,  and  in  a  month 's  time  you  will  have 
excellent  ink." 

In  our  primitive  schoolroom,  long  benches  made  of  plank 


50  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

extended  in  front  of  the  rude  desks,  and  upon  these  forms  were 
seated  the  pupils,  facing  the  wall,  and  with  their  backs  toward 
the  master.  He,  within  the  hollow  square  thus  formed,  kept,  or 
at  least  attempted  to  keep,  good  order.  If  he  caught  sight  of  a 
boy  whispering,  playing,  or  grossly  inattentive  to  his  books,  the 
ruler  was  thrown  with  unerring  precision,  and  the  detected 
culprit  was  then  ordered  to  bring  the  ferrule  back.  Upon  re- 
turning it  he  was  sternly  directed  to  hold  out  his  hand,  and  the 
number  and  severity  of  the  blows  was  in  proportion  to  the 
gravity  of  the  offense. 

The  boys  were  expected  to  learn  reading,  writing,  and  the 
rudiments  of  arithmetic.  As  to  spelling,  the  orthography  of 
our  ancient  records  would  indicate  that  this  branch  of  learning 
received  but  scant  attention.  Thus  the  name  of  Timothy  Hillyer — 
in  whose  honor  one  of  the  peaks  of  Mt.  Holyoke  was  christened 
Hilliard's  Knob — was  spelled  in  the  old  deeds  in  seven  different 
ways.  Even  the  teachers  grew  careless;  a  chair  became  a 
''cheer"  upon  which  to  "set"  down;  till  at  last  a  town  official  in 
hiring  a  new  schoolmaster  adjured  him  to  be  "Pertickler  about 
the  pronounce-ation  of  his  words." 

A  would-be  instructor  of  youth  advertising  in  our  county 
paper,  placed  among  his  list  of  qualifications,  "I  teaches  gografy, 
and  all  them  outlandish  things."  In  order  to  understand  the 
full  significance  of  this  remark,  it  would  be  necessary  to  read 
one  of  the  old  geographies  brought  to  South  Hadley  by  Ephraim 
Nash,  and  others,  a  few  extracts  from  which  are  subjoined. 

''There  grows  in  some  part  of  Eussia,  a  strange  sort  of 
melon  called  Boranetz  (i.  e.,  the  Little  Lamb).  In  figure  it  re- 
sembles a  lamb,  and  such  is  its  vegetable  heat  that  it  consumes 
and  eats  up  all  the  grass,  or  rather  herbs,  within  its  reach.  As 
the  fruit  doth  ripen,  the  stalk  decays,  and  is  covered  with  a  sub- 
stance exactly  the  same  with  wool.  A  part  of  the  skin  of  this 
remarkable  plant  is  to  be  seen  in  the  King  of  Denmark's  public 
repository  of  rarities  at  Copenhagen.  Many  of  the  Muscovites 
use  the  skin  of  this  rare  vegetable  instead  of  furs  for  lining  of 
their  vests." 

"Take  a  native  Spaniard,  strip  him  of  his  good  qualities 


MUl/ TIP  LI  CAT]  ON. 


■^■■^'-  ■  *■■ '  • 


,;„..r     T^l 


Sii.S(-m,tj(>\\  iiiU(Miis    h  uii.c:-  \)  ?   (lis  30, 
hecvuisr  9,  liiiiltipiica  1:_.    Kiii:il\ps  30'. 


THE   RUDIMENTS   OP  ARITHMETIC 


FROM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  51 

(which  may  be  quickly  done),  that  person  then  remaining  will 
be  a  complete  Portuguese." 

"In  Germany,  near  St.  Omers,  is  a  large  lake  in  which  are 
divers  floating  islands,  most  of  them  inhabited,  and  movable  by 
ropes  tied  to  strong  poles,  fixed  fast  in  the  ground." 

"There  is  a  certain  European  island  the  northernmost  part 
whereof  doth  frequently  alter  its  longitude  and  latitude." 

In  summer  time  the  older  boys  worked  on  the  farm,  while 
the  girls  and  younger  children  were  expected  to  attend  a  dame 
school,  taught  by  a  woman,  or  by  a  superannuated  schoolmaster, 
unable,  on  account  of  age  or  infirmity,  to  manage  boys. 

The  town,  with  unusual  liberality,  allowed  some  of  the  public 
money  to  be  expended  in  pa\Tnent  of  these  teachers.  Here  the 
children  were  taught  to  knit,  sew,  and  to  read  short  words.  The 
older  girls  learned  to  read  the  Bible,  recite  the  catechism,  and 
possibly  to  embroider  samplers.  Some  of  them  were  instructed 
in  the  art  of  writing.  But  the  latter  class  were  sadly  in  the  mi- 
nority. 

A  part  of  the  dame  schools  were  intended  only  for  children, 
and  were  often  taught  by  illiterate  women,  skilled,  perhaps,  in 
the  art  of  amusing  the  young.  We  read  that  Tom's  aunt,  on  a 
certain  occasion,  "Deposed  verbatim,  that  the  sade  Tomme  had 
been  under  her  tuishuon  laste  summer,  and  had  always  behaved 
as  a  good  skolur  ote  to  du ;  and  she  never  had  ketched  him  in  a 
ly,    or  fib,  in  her  lyfe." 

The  following  description  of  a  dame  school  is  derived,  in 
part,  from  an  old  story  edited  by  a  schoolmaster,  many  years 
ago: 

Imagine  a  little  story-and-a-half  house,  its  rear  roof  sloping 
almost  to  the  ground,  and  over  whose  unpaneled  door  hangs  a 
signboard.  Here  were  daily  gathered  the  boys  and  girls  of  the 
neighborhood;  little  tots  that  needed  to  be  carried  over  the 
rough  places  in  the  road,  up  to  children  nine  or  ten  years  of  age. 

The  dame  sat  in  a  high-backed  chair,  her  throne  of  state, 
since  she  believed  herself  a  model  of  social  preeminence,  for  did 
she  not  rank,  next  to  the  minister's  wife,  as  the  first  lady  in  the 
village?    Towering  above  her  head  rose  the  crown  of  her  tall 


52  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

mob  cap,  hiding  thus  the  gray  hair  which  proclaimed  her  three- 
score years.  A  snowy  kerchief  was  pinned  closely  about  her 
neck,  and  a  white  apron,  trimmed  upon  three  sides  with  a  deep 
ruffle,  concealed  a  part  of  her  linen  gown.  At  her  side  hung  the 
indispensable  work-pocket,  containing  strings  with  which  to  tie 
the  hands  of  naughty  children  behind  them,  soft  bandages  for 
youthful  hurts,  and  divers  other  articles  that  might  be  needed. 
Beside  her  stood  a  little  carved  table,  upon  which  lay  a  nicely- 
trimmed  birch  rod.  Every  Monday  morning  the  floor  was 
spread  with  clean  sand,  and  a  fresh  rod  provided;  for  it  was 
expected  that  the  good  dame  would  wear  out  at  least  one  a 
week  while  keeping  her  little  flock  in  order.  The  bare  shoulders 
and  feet  of  her  pupils  afforded  an  open  field  for  chastisement, 
but  oftentimes  a  threat  of  punishment  was  sufficient.  If  she 
caught  a  girl  chewing  the  corners  of  her  primer,  she  took  up  the 
rod  with  an  "I'll  teach  you  to  munch  your  book  as  a  rabbit 
does  clover."  But  the  tears  and  promises  of  the  culprit  gener- 
ally availed,  and  the  sentence  was  commuted  to  a  sharp  rebuke. 

Even  the  very  little  children  were  taught  to  knit  stockings, 
and  up  to  seventy  years  ago,  it  was  considered  that  the  proper 
penalty  for  dropping  stitches  was  to  have  the  ears  snapped  with 
a  thimble,  or  ''finger  hat,"  once  for  each  stitch.  But  the  dame 
was  not  always  finding  fault.  There  were  times  when  her  smile 
was  so  sweet  that  "Every  little  child's  heart  grew  happy  at 
seeing  it." 

There  was  a  great  cupboard  in  one  corner,  where  the  books 
and  work  were  kept.  Into  the  bottom  of  this  the  infant  class 
crept,  when  the  dame  was  not  looking  that  way,  and  here  they 
"whispered  and  twittered  like  a  nest  of  young  wrens." 

Though  it  was  then  looked  upon  as  far  beneath  the  dignity 
of  a  schoolmistress  to  reason  with  her  pupils  in  regard  to  bad 
conduct,  yet  the  kindergartens  of  to-day  will  do  well  if  they  train 
up  such  strong  and  sterling  men  and  women  as  came  forth  from 
that  old  oaken  door,  wreathed  round  with  morning-glories,  and 
crowned  with  the  modest  sign : 


FROM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  53 

DAME  SCHOOL. 

CHILDEEIT    TAUGHT    TO    READ. 

Previous  to  1760  education  seems  to  have  made  but  slight 
progress  in  our  town.  Schoolmasters  were  hard  to  find,  and  we 
hear  of  their  being  ''entreated"  to  come.  Men  who  were  college 
graduates,  and  had  made  teaching  a  profession,  were  in  great 
demand,  and  were  often  employed  up  to  extreme  old  age.  One 
of  these  early  schoolmasters  was  the  town's  first  pauper. 
Samuel  Mighill  was  the  son  of  a  minister.  Graduating  from 
Harvard  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  he  came  to  Hadley  during  the 
following  year,  and  was  installed  as  master  of  the  Hopkins 
Grammar  School.  Here  he  fell  in  love  with  a  young  woman,  five 
years  older  than  himself,  whom  he  subsequently  married.  He 
removed  to  Connecticut,  where  he  taught  school  for  twenty-two 
years.  At  the  expiration  of  this  time,  his  heart  turned  once  more 
to  Massachusetts,  and,  deserting  his  second  wife,  he  returned  to 
Hadley,  from  whence  he  moved  to  Amherst,  and  eventually  to 
South  Hadley,  coming  here,  probably,  about  the  time  when  the 
precinct  first  voted  to  hire  a  schoolmaster.  Some  years  later 
he  made  a  public  complaint  that  he  "a  Master  of  Arts,  although 
still  able  to  teach  a  small  school,  of  late,  people  had  refused  to 
employ  him  in  that  business."  He  was  now  seventy-four  years 
old,  and  his  disposition,  never  perhaps  of  the  best,  may  not  have 
improved  with  age. 

The  selectmen  sent  the  constable,  Deacon  David  Nash,  to 
warn  him  that  he  must  "depart  and  leave  this  district  of  South 
Hadley,"  lest  he  become  a  public  burden.  This  was  an  insult 
not  to  be  tolerated,  and  in  November,  1759,  Master  Mighill  sent 
to  the  court  at  Northampton  a  humble  and  pious  letter,  asking 
their  advice  in  honeyed  phrases,  and  praying  that  their  worships 
and  the  honorable  court  "would  consider  his  helpless  and  needy 
circumstances,  and  make  such  order  for  his  relief  and  support  as 
to  law  and  justice  belong." 

Now,  the  court  had  complete  jurisdiction  in  such  cases ;  the 
law  empowered  magistrates  to  dispose  of  paupers,  "into  such 
towns  as  they  shall  judge  to  be  most  fit  for  the  maintenance  and 


54  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

employment  of  such  persons  and  families,  for  the  ease  of  this 
country. ' ' 

Master  Mighill's  crafty  appeal  was  not  lost  upon  the  court. 
The  judge  promptly  decreed  that  this  district  should  provide 
relief  and  support  for  him  as  long  as  he  chose  to  remain  a  resi- 
dent of  the  town.  He  continued  to  live  here,  at  public  expense, 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  ten  years  later. 

A  few  months  after  Mighill's  successful  appeal.  South  Had- 
ley  was  once  more  summoned  before  the  court,  this  time  upon 
the  unaccountable  charge  of  having  failed  to  keep  a  grammar 
school  the  preceding  year. 

The  law  of  the  commonwealth  required  that  every  town 
which  contained  a  hundred  families  should  have  a  school  that 
would  fit  for  college.  But  in  a  district  like  South  Hadley,  which 
at  that  time  included  24,000  acres  of  land,  and  whose  opposite 
boundaries  were  from  six  to  ten  miles  apart,  it  would  manifestly 
be  impossible  to  collect  all  the  pupils  at  one  place,  especially  as  our 
present  smooth  roads  were  then  but  bridle  paths,  or  rough  cart- 
tracks.  The  school  had  therefore  been  kept  in  rotation,  two 
months  at  South  Hadley  Center,  two  at  Falls  Woods,  and  two  at 
the  inn  of  Deacon  John  Smith,  which  stood  on  the  site  after- 
wards occupied  by  the  residence  of  the  late  Mr.  Frank  Taylor, 
in  West  Parish,  now  a  part  of  Grranby. 

The  selectmen  of  1760  had  been  very  fortunate  in  their 
choice  of  an  instructor  for  that  year.  Josiah  Pierce  had  taught 
for  twelve  years  in  the  Hopkins  school  at  Hadley ;  he  could  read 
both  Latin  and  Greek,  and  even  preach  a  sermon  if  occasion  re- 
quired. He  was  as  good  a  farmer  as  teacher,  and  appears  to 
have  been  the  means  of  introducing  the  use  of  potatoes  as  an 
article  of  food  among  our  forefathers,  whose  old  account  books 
show  that  in  1762  the  price  here  was  three  dollars  a  bushel,  and 
the  largest  amount  taken  by  any  one  customer  was  two  pecks. 
In  the  evenings.  Master  Pierce,  who  was  said  to  have  been  a 
good  ' '  arithmeticker, ' '  had  a  class  in  ciphering.  This  may  have 
been  necessary  from  the  fact  that  some  of  the  older  boys  were 
required  to  work  at  home  during  a  part  of  the  day ;  but  another 
reason  existed:  the  old  arithmetics  were  but  a  brief  collection 


FRAC  TJONS. 


\\c  have  twcKe  to  suppei'.wc  ni  list  divide 
this  calce  into  12  parts  or  Fractions. 


TliACHIXG     ARITHMETIC 


FEOM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  55 

of  rules,  often  with  only  one  example  given  under  each,  so  that 
the  instructor  was  obliged  to  compose  his  own  sums,  or  prob- 
lems, the  copying  and  explanation  of  which  required  time, 
especially  the  Golden  Rule,  as  the  rule  of  three  in  proportion 
was  then  termed. 

In  order  that  no  infraction  of  law  should  go  unpunished, 
Massachusetts  had  established  a  system  of  government  well 
calculated  to  develop  a  generation  of  spies.  When  a  crime  was 
committed,  he  who  reported  it  to  the  court  received  from  one- 
third  to  one-half  of  the  fine.  In  the  present  case  against  South 
Hadley  the  informer  was  the  famous,  or  rather  infamous,  Joseph 
Ashley,  whose  name  was  to  the  populace  as  the  red  flag  of  the 
matador. 

At  the  opening  of  the  court  in  February,  1761,  the  town's 
attorney,  Hon.  Charles  Phelps,  of  Hadley,  stated  the  facts  in  the 
case,  with  such  a  pleasing  humility  that  the  judge  summarily 
ordered  the  indictment  to  be  quashed.  So  the  discomfited  Joseph 
went  home  minus  even  his  ferriage,  to  the  great  joy  of  his  fellow 
citizens.  He,  however,  continued  in  his  role  of  informer  with 
varying  success,  until  he  was  driven  from  the  place,  at  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  Revolutionary  war. 

Josiah  Draper  was  the  next  teacher  to  leave  us  a  record  of 
his  personal  experiences,  not  in  an  interleaved  almanac,  like 
that  of  Master  Pierce,  but  on  the  stout  sermon  paper  in  use 
among  ministers  of  that  day.  His  character  was  one  of  strange 
contradictions ;  at  one  moment  generous  to  a  fault ;  at  another, 
close  and  calculating.  He  was  an  ardent  patriot,  ready  to  do 
or  suffer  anything  for  his  country ;  yet  upon  the  yoimger  genera- 
tion, his  punishments  were  so  severe  that  he  put  even  the  Middle 
Ages  to  the  blush.  He  was  a  constant  attendant  at  church;  as 
chorister,  he  set  the  times  with  his  ancient  pitch-pipe;  and  as 
precentor,  he  lined  out  the  hjTnns  as  they  were  sung. 

Yet  this  same  leader  among  men,  after  long  years  of  service, 
was  finally  deprived  of  his  office,  because  his  habits  of  intemper- 
ance were  past  all  enduring.  One  instance  of  his  severity  when 
under  the  influence  of  liquor  was  long  remembered  among  his 
pupils.    It  was  a  bitterly  cold  day ;  so  much  of  the  heat  went  up 


56  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

the  wide  chimney  that  those  who  sat  at  the  rear  of  the  school- 
room said  that  their  numbed  fingers  could  hardly  hold  their 
books.  They  asked  permission  to  go  to  the  fire.  "Yes,"  answered 
Master  Draper,  grimly,  "and  I  will  make  you  warm  enough  to 
last  all  winter."  He  placed  them  in  a  row  across  the  front  of 
the  fireplace,  and  piled  on  logs  till  the  flames  roared  up  the 
chimney.  He  allowed  no  one  to  step  back,  but  kept  them  in  that 
scorching  heat  till  both  faces  and  hands  were  blistered.  The 
narrator  of  this  incident  added  significantly,  "No  one  asked  to 
go  to  the  fire  again  that  winter. ' ' 

A  true  account  of  the  brutalities  that  passed  unnoticed  in 
this  old  schoolhouse  would  seem  hardly  credible  to  the  reader  of 
to-day.  It  was  an  era  of  whipping,  and  every  time  a  new  master 
was  hired,  he  was  expected  to  enter  the  schoolroom  on  the  day 
of  opening  with  a  large  bundle  of  hazel  rods  under  his  arm  (the 
latter  shrub  being  considered  a  more  efficacious  means  of  disci- 
pline than  birch),  and  carrying  in  his  hand  a  hardwood  ferrule. 
In  the  eighteenth  century  flogging  was  looked  uj)on  as  the  natu- 
ral penalty  of  crime ;  and  in  the  Eevolutionary  Army,  desertion, 
stealing,  and  like  misdemeanors,  were  almost  invariably  pun- 
ished in  this  manner. 

Within  the  first  week  of  the  term  there  generally  ensued  a 
battle  royal  between  the  new  pedagogue  and  the  ringleader  of 
the  boys.  If  the  former  failed  of  being  conqueror,  his  stay  would 
be  but  brief.  One  of  our  old  masters  thus  addressed  his  school: 
"Boys,  there  is  one  thing  I  cannot  have,  and  I  ivill  not  have;  it 
is  NOISE!"  and  he  thumped  the  desk  lustily  with  his  fist.  He 
was  a  man  of  great  muscular  strength,  but  lacking  in  that  moral 
force  which  is  so  essential  to  success. 

On  the  third  day,  while  the  boys  were  walking  around  the 
room,  talking  aloud,  and  jumping  from  the  windows,  two  town 
officials  came  in  and  dismissed  the  new  master.  Not  so  was  Mr. 
W.,  who  lived  in  town,  working  during  the  summer  and  teach- 
ing winters.  If  he  caught  one  of  his  pupils  whispering  he  was 
wont  to  remark,  sardonically,  that  he  knew  of  but  one  remedy, 
and  that  was  red  paint  applied  to  the  inside  of  the  hand;  and 
the  ruler  was  then  brought  into  requisition. 


FEOM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  57 

One  of  the  later  teachers,  Mr.  C,  invented  a  cruel  punish- 
ment of  his  own.  Placing  a  lead  pencil  between  two  fingers,  he 
held  them  firmly  together  while  he  twisted  the  pencil  round  and 
round.  This  soon  brought  the  most  stubborn  to  their  knees. 
The  result,  however,  was  that  the  boys  rose  en  masse,  and  bring- 
ing in  wood  blocked  him  from  the  schoolroom,  which  he  never 
entered  again. 

But  the  masters  were  not  all  like  this:  there  were  men  of 
dignity  and  worth,  whose  names  were  deeply  graven  in  those 
little  halls  of  fame  that  always  find  a  lodgment  in  every  human 
heart. 

Josiah  Draper,  in  spite  of  his  severity,  continued  to  teach 
school  for  many  years,  the  town,  as  was  customary,  giving  him 
a  piece  of  land.  This  was  situated  in  Falls  Woods,  and  here,  in 
the  summer  time,  he  raised  corn,  and  subsequently  built  himself  a 
house.  But  in  winter,  while  teaching,  he  still  preferred  "board- 
ing 'round,  a  week  in  each  family,"  as  he  says  in  his  diary.  This 
meant  that  he  would  be  the  honored  guest  in  a  succession  of 
visits;  would  sleep  amid  the  linen-crested  billows  of  the  best 
feather  bed,  and  would  partake  of  the  choicest  viands  the  house 
could  afford.  If  any  family,  through  poverty  or  ill  will,  did  not 
wish  to  receive  him,  their  names  would  be  placed  at  the  end  of 
the  list,  and  would  not  be  reached  until  it  was  time  for  the  term 
to  close. 

Should  there  chance  to  be  in  any  neighborhood  a  house  that 
was  noted  for  its  poor  cookery  and  meager  fare,  where  the  brass 
warming-pan  never  removed  the  chill  that  lurked  beneath  the 
canopied  splendor  of  the  four-poster,  then  the  kindly  neighbors 
vied  with  one  another  in  sending  invitations  to  the  unfortunate 
teacher,  so  that  without  too  much  discomfort  the  week  would 
come  to  an  end. 

And  South  Hadley  was  kind.  Even  poor  old  Samuel  Mighill, 
in  his  letter  to  the  court,  spoke  of  the  "charity,  humanity,  and 
benevolence,"  of  its  citizens. 

Boarding  'round  was  not  always  an  unmixed  joy,  especially 
in  summer,  when  the  schools  were  taught  by  young  women.  It 
is  not  agreeable  to  be  continuously  in  the  lime-light,  as  was  one 


58  IN   OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

of  the  South  Hadley  girls,  who  wrote  thus  of  her  introduction  to 
a  new  boarding  place :  ' '  Opening  the  door,  I  beheld  the  whole 
family  ranged  against  the  wall  in  the  exact  order  of  their 
height,  and  looking  like  a  pair  of  stairs.  The  mother  stepped 
forward  and  said,  'Children,  this  is  the  Marm,  and  I  want  you 
to  watch  her,  and  do  jest  as  she  does,  and  talk  jest  as  she  talks, 
so  as  to  grow  up  pooty  ladies.'  There  was  no  place  in  which  I 
could  remove  the  dust  of  my  day's  work  except  the  woodshed. 
Here,  upon  a  wooden  bench,  stood  a  tin  dipper  and  a  dish  of 
soft  soap,  also  a  coarse  towel,  upon  which  all  the  family  had 
dried  their  faces  and  hands.  'Mabbe  you'd  like  to  wash,'  sug- 
gested Mrs.  H.  At  supper,  platters  of  meat,  potatoes,  and 
bread,  garnished  the  center  of  the  table.  As  soon  as  the  bless- 
ing had  been  asked,  the  children  speared  these  articles  with  won- 
derful dexterity,  and  consumed  their  food  with  such  rapidity 
that  they  were  nearly  half  through  before  I  was  ready  to  begin 
my  repast.  It  was  all  so  new  and  strange  that,  though  I  went 
early  to  bed,  I  could  not  sleep.  Presently  through  the  thinly- 
boarded  walls  of  my  chamber  I  heard  the  voice  of  one  of  my 
pupils,  praying.  He  said:  '0  God,  please  to  keep  all  houses 
from  burning  down  to-night;  and,  0  God,  please  to  specially 
keep  our  house  from  burning  down  to-night,  cause  the  Marm 
is  here.'  Then,  soothed  and  comforted,  I  fell  into  such  a  sound 
sleep  that  I  did  not  waken  until  cockcrow  in  the  morning." 
There  were  some  teachers  who  needed  not  the  usual  injunction 
to  "Make  yerself  to  hum."  Miss  Mary  N.  one  day  called  to 
her  desk  a  boy  with  whose  widowed  mother  she  was  then  board- 
ing. He  received  what  she  called  ' '  a  good  ferruling, ' '  he  mean- 
while having  no  idea  for  what  crime  he  was  being  punished. 
"There!"  she  said,  when  she  had  finished,  "now  we'll  see 
whether  you  will  make  up  faces  at  your  mother  the  next  time 
she  tells  you  you  are  to  have  hasty  pudding  and  milk  for  break- 
fast." 

Holding  down  a  nail  in  the  floor,  balancing  books  on  the 
extended  arm,  and  other  old-fashioned  methods  of  punishment, 
remained  in  force  during  the  winter  schools  until  nearly  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.     But  after  1820,  both  boys 


FROM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  59 

and  girls  were  admitted  to  the  public  schools  at  all  seasons,  and 
a  much  milder  form  of  discipline  prevailed  in  the  summer  time. 
Then  if  a  boy  whispered  he  was  sent  to  sit  with  some  good  girl, 
whose  example  would  be  beneficial. 

Miss  T.,  who  taught  in  Moody  Corner,  had  a  variation  of 
this  method  which  seems  to  have  been  all  her  own.  If  a  boy  and 
girl  were  caught  playing  in  school  time,  the  right  arm  of  the  one 
was  bound  firmly  to  the  left  arm  of  the  other ;  the  pair  were  then 
directed  to  knock  at  the  door  and  show  themselves  to  the  resi- 
dents of  three  neighboring  houses,  the  teacher,  doubtless,  watch- 
ing them  from  the  window  to  see  that  her  orders  were  carried 
out. 

The  Dunce  Block  was  intended  for  the  indolent  and  stupid, 
rather  than  for  the  mischievous  pupil.  A  section  of  log,  about 
two  feet  long,  was  made  smooth  at  both  ends  and  placed  up- 
right upon  the  floor.  Upon  this  the  delinquent  was  obliged  to 
stand,  wearing  upon  his  or  her  head  a  tall,  pointed  cap  of  white 
paper,  with  the  word  DUNCE  printed  in  large  capitals  across 
the  front. 

Some  of  our  old  teachers  prayed  with  their  pupils  before 
whipping  them.  But  even  these  orisons  were  less  dreaded  than 
the  old-time  punishment  of  '  *  sitting  in  a  whig  chair. ' '  This  was 
never  used  except  in  connection  with  the  oldest  and  most  turbu- 
lent boys;  for,  as  the  offender  was  compelled  to  assume  a  sit- 
ting position  with  nothing  to  sustain  his  weight,  the  crouching 
attitude  was  soon  productive  of  severe  cramps,  impossible  to 
be  borne. 

In  looking  backward,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  status 
of  the  teacher  in  those  times  was  far  different  from  that  of  the 
present.  Then  each  school  was  a  miniature  kingdom,  and  the 
master,  who  chose  to  play  the  despot,  found  few  to  dispute  his 
sway. 

Occasionally  some  teacher  tried  to  dispense  with  rod  and 
ferrule.  The  experience  of  one  such  master  was  given  in  the 
newspapers  of  that  day.  He  attempted  to  lead  his  pupils  to  the 
right  by  reasoning  with  them.  This  failing,  he  tried  to  drive 
them  through  a  sense  of  shame ;  then  he  thought  by  praising  to 


60  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

flatter  them  into  well-doing,  till  he  had  "coaxed  away  his  own 
authority. ' ' 

Now  there  chanced  to  be  in  the  school  a  youth  whose  too- 
indulgent  mother  had  forewarned  the  master  that  her  son  was 
not  to  be  corrected.  This  boy  had  begun  to  "throw  down  books, 
and  huff  out  'wills'  and  'won'ts'  with  much  emphasis."  In 
despair,  the  master  gave  him  one  blow,  upon  which  the  boy 
kicked  him  and  ran  crying  to  his  mother,  who  told  him  his 
teacher  was  a  cruel  blockhead.  She  immediately  summoned 
her  husband  and  bade  him  go  and  turn  the  master  out  of  the 
school.  He  had  but  little  liking  for  the  task ;  his  wife,  however, 
who  wore  the  purple  in  that  household,  insisted.  A  meeting  was 
held,  and  the  neighbors  came  in  to  express  their  approbation  of 
the  instructor;  but  the  mother  continued  to  "huff  and  ding  at 
those  who  espoused  the  cause  of  the  master,  calling  their  chil- 
dren beggars,  liars,  and  ill-bred  scullions."  Quarrels  ensued, 
and  the  article  closed  with  a  sneer  at  the  man  who  was  "Under 
the  control  of  what  some  call  Eibocracy." 

Methods  of  instruction,  as  well  as  those  of  discipline, 
changed  with  the  passing  years.  The  arithmetic  of  1760  arro- 
gated to  itself  a  supreme  place  in  the  schoolroom,  claiming  to 
be  the  basis  of  all  arts,  and  therefore  it  ought  to  be  understood 
"before  other  branches  were  meddled  with."  The  most  minute 
details  were  given  in  regard  to  its  different  subjects.  The  first 
unit  of  weight,  it  informed  us,  was  ' '  A  corn  of  wheat,  gathered 
out  of  the  middle  of  the  ear,  and  well  dried."  Thirty- two  of  these 
were  supposed  to  equal  the  weight  of  a  penny.  Later  the  num- 
ber was  reduced  to  twenty-four,  and  as  the  expression  had 
changed  to  "grains  of  wheat,"  the  table  began,  "Twenty-four 
grains  make  one  penny-weight."  Problems  in  arithmetic  were 
also  expected  to  do  their  part  toward  the  moral  as  well  as  men- 
tal improvement  of  the  pupils,  as:  "A  gentleman  told  his  son 
if  he  would  be  a  good  boy  and  attend  closely  to  his  school,  he 
should  have  one-half  of  the  chickens,  one-third  of  the  turkeys, 
and  one-fifth  of  the  goslings  that  should  be  hatched  that  year. 
The  number  of  turkeys  was  three  times  the  number  of  goslings, 
and  the  number  of  the  goslings  was  one-half  the  number  of 


FROM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  61 

chickens  hatched  by  five  hens,  setting  on  twelve  eggs  each.  When 
they  had  grown,  the  boy  carried  his  part  to  market  and  received 
fifty  cents  each  for  his  tnrkeys,  twenty  cents  for  his  chickens, 
and  two  shillings  for  his  geese.  Can  you  tell  me  how  much  he 
gained  by  being  a  good  boy,  besides  the  approbation  of  his 
parents  and  the  improvement  he  had  made  at  school?" 

Copy  books,  too,  were  supposed  to  inculcate  lessons  of  wis- 
dom. The  oldest  writing  book  to  be  found  in  South  Hadley  was 
brought  here  probably  by  one  of  the  first  settlers  as  a  relic  of 
his  schooldays.  The  copy  set  on  May  24,  1708,  was:  "Enter 
no  serious  Friendship  with  the  mutilogonous  man,  for  he  can- 
not keep  thy  counsel." 

After  the  rhyming  fever  developed  itself  in  this  region, 
such  copies  as  this  were  used: 

''Your  delight  and  your  care 
Will  make  you  write  fair." 
or 

"If  you  would  live  in  peace  and  rest, 
You  must  hear,  and  see,  and  sa)^  the  best." 

For  nearly  a  century  our  schools  were  both  opened  and 
closed  with  reading  the  Scriptures  and  prayer,  and  it  was  looked 
upon  as  a  most  disgraceful  punishment  when  a  pupil  was  re- 
quired to  stand  beside  the  master  and  face  the  school  during 
the  concluding  exercises. 

J.  W.  Tuck,  afterwards  the  Congregational  minister  at 
Ludlow,  may  have  been  the  last  to  continue  this  practice,  for 
about  1840  the  recitation  of  Bible  verses  was  substituted  in 
place  of  the  closing  devotions. 

Mr.  Tuck  had  been  the  pupil  of  the  famous  Miss  N.,  of 
whom  mention  has  previously  been  made,  and  of  whom  it  used  to 
be  said  that  she  whipped  wisdom  into  her  pupils,  using  the  rod 
in  moderation  if  she  thought  that  would  do,  but  unsparingly  if 
she  considered  it  necessary.  But  the  gentle  firmness  of  Mr. 
Tuck  won  both  the  respect  and  good-will  of  all  about  him,  and 
it  was  only  upon  rare  occasions  that  he  found  it  necessary  to 
call  in  the  service  of  Doctor  Birch.     He  taught  in  the  small 


62  m  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

schoolhouse,  now  used  as  a  dwelling,  on  the  east  side  of  Am- 
herst Street,  a  little  south  of  Bittersweet  Lane.  This  building, 
erected  about  1816,  furnished  a  good  illustration  of  the  second 
period  of  schoolhouse  architecture. 

Around  three  sides  of  the  room,  a  long  bench  was  fastened 
to  the  wall,  with  an  elevated  platform  beneath  it ;  this  was  known 
as  the  Backseat,  and  was  intended  for  the  older  pupils.  In 
front  of  it  were  three  tiers  of  desks  and  seats,  each  of  the  latter 
being  a  step  lower  than  the  one  behind  it,  so  that  the  aisles 
were  like  a  little  pair  of  stairs.  Upon  the  east  side  stood  the 
fireplace  and  a  door  opening  into  the  entry.  But  before  the  ad- 
vent of  Mr.  Tuck  the  room  had  been  modernized;  the  desks 
placed  in  rows  upon  a  level  floor  and  all  facing  the  same  way,  and 
the  fireplace  exchanged  for  a  large  box  stove. 

The  children  and  youth  from  Moody  Corner  and  Pearl  City, 
joined  to  those  of  "District  Number  Four,"  formed  a  school  of 
from  sixty  to  seventy  pupils  of  all  ages,  from  the  ABCdarians 
to  the  stalwart  boy  already  almost  out  of  his  teens.  It  was  obvi- 
ously impossible  for  one  teacher  to  hear  such  a  multiplicity  of 
recitations,  and  Mr.  Tuck  appointed  two  of  the  older  girls  as 
monitors,  Clara  Montague  and  Irene  Moody,  who  assisted  him 
by  teaching  the  younger  classes.  Then  the  old,  old  story,  so 
new  and  wonderful  to  every  passing  generation,  repeated  itself, 
and  two  days  before  his  installation  at  Ludlow,  Mr.  Tuck  and 
Irene  Moody  were  married.  There  was  one  brief  year  of  happi- 
ness, then  she  sailed  out  over  the  Unknown  Sea,  on  the  return- 
less  voyage  that  awaits  us  all. 

Mr.  Tuck,  like  other  old  masters,  inculcated  a  deep  respect 
for  the  ministry.  Massachusetts  had  passed  a  law,  some  years 
before,  making  it  obligatory  for  the  ministers  to  visit  the  schools. 
Mr.  Condit  did  this,  and  whenever  he  passed  the  schoolhouse 
during  the  recess  or  noon  intermission,  he  beheld  what  in  our 
day  would  be  an  unaccustomed  sight.  No  sooner  did  his  one- 
horse  shay  appear  at  the  head  of  the  street  than  all  the  games 
ceased.  The  boys  were  usually  playing  leap  frog,  jumping  from 
a  springboard,  or  having  a  series  of  Marathon  races  round  the 
schoolhouse  (the  yard  being  then  fully  treble  its  present  size), 


FEOM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  63 

and  the  girls  and  little  children  were  honeycombing  the  opposite 
bank,  in  unconscious  imitation  of  the  mound-builders. 

Both  parties  immediately  ranged  themselves  in  lines  on 
either  side  of  the  street,  with  the  cry,  ''The  minister  is  com- 
ing!" When  Mr.  Condit  reached  them  he  leaned  out  of  the 
chaise,  bowing  to  right  and  left  with  a  cheerful,  ''Good  day, 
boys!"  "Good  day,  girls!"  The  latter  courtesied,  while  the 
boys  scraped  their  feet  backward,  with  an  awkward  obeisance; 
then  the  ceremony  was  over,  and  the  old  horse  jogged  on. 

We  had  another  schoolmaster  whose  fame  still  survives. 
Daniel  Paine  was  known  far  and  near  for  his  skill  in  managing 
unruly  boys,  and  wherever  there  was  a  rebellion  in  school, 
other  towns  were  sure  to  send  for  Master  Paine.  Not  that  his 
punishments  were  frequent,  or  unusually  severe;  but  he  had 
what  Andrew  Jackson  called  "The  shoot  in  his  eye."  After  he 
ceased  teaching  and  was  made  a  member  of  the  School  Commit- 
tee, he  was  always  spoken  of  as  Squire  Paine.  On  examination 
days  his  closing  remarks  to  the  pupils  were  certain  to  end  with 
this  inspiring  forecast:  "Perhaps  I  see  before  me  some  future 
President  of  the  United  States.  Eemember,  boys,  that  this  of- 
fice is  within  the  reach  of  the  poor  as  well  as  the  rich." 

When  the  jurisdiction  of  schools  was  taken  from  the  min- 
isters and  selectmen  and  given  to  a  special  committee,  ap- 
pointed in  each  town  for  that  purpose,  some  of  the  new  mem- 
bers felt  that  Solomon  in  all  his  wisdom  was  not  equipped  like 
one  of  them.  One  of  the  wiseacres  in  this  vicinity  finished  his 
examination  day  speech  in  this  manner :  ' '  Children,  you  are  now 
slowly  climbing  up  the  Hill  of  Knowledge.  But  take  courage; 
keep  on;  and  do  not  forget  that  when  you  reach  the  summit,  I 
shall  he  there  to  welcome  you.''^  These  same  semi-annual  exam- 
inations held  a  most  important  place  in  the  calendar.  On  the 
preceding  day  each  girl  brought  a  wash-dipper  and  a  large 
piece  of  cloth.  Some  kind  neighbor  volunteered  a  dish  of  soft 
soap.  A  part  of  the  boys  were  detailed  to  bring  hot  water,  and 
with  a  sand  bank  near  by,  the  scrubbing  and  scouring  began. 
Meantime,  the  rest  of  the  boys  had  gone  in  search  of  evergreen, 
which  was  festooned  about  the  walls  and  windows ;  the  rusty  old 


64  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

stove  being  concealed  beneath  a  mountain  of  feathery  asparagus. 
There  was  sure  to  be  a  crowd  of  visitors  on  the  fateful  day,  and 
many  teachers  were  sorely  tempted  to  give  out  in  advance  the 
list  of  questions  that  they  intended  to  ask  their  dullest  scholars. 
This  practice,  however,  did  not  always  turn  out  according  to 
their  expectations.  The  old  folks  used  to  tell  of  a  schoolmaster 
who  had  one  pupil  so  stupid  that  he  positively  could  not  learn 
anything.  So  on  the  day  before  the  examination  he  told  this 
boy  that  he  should  ask  him,  in  the  geography  class,  "What  is 
the  shape  of  the  earth?"  and  directed  him  to  answer,  "It  is 
round  like  a  ball  or  orange."  Now,  at  this  time,  the  habit  of 
using  tobacco  was  almost  universal,  and  it  was  considered  cour- 
teous for  the  master  to  offer  his  snuff  box  to  visitors.  The  one 
that  he  usually  carried  was  square,  but  he  had  a  new  one  for 
Sundays  that  was  round,  and  this  he  promised  to  bring  the  fol- 
lowing day  and  hand  to  the  committee  if  the  boy  forgot  his  les- 
son. This,  as  might  have  been  expected,  he  did,  and  to  the  ques- 
tion could  only  return  a  "I  dunno."  "Think  a  moment,"  said 
the  teacher,  encouragingly,  as  he  took  out  the  new  snuff  box. 
"I  know,"  cried  the  boy  eagerly.  "It  is  round,  sir,  on  Sundays, 
and  square  the  rest  of  the  week. ' ' 

Many  were  the  revelations  of  the  schoolroom.  Mr.  E.,  the 
oldest  man  in  town,  tells  of  a  boy  in  his  class  who  was  learning 
the  alphabet.  He  gave  correctly  the  names  of  Q,  E.  and  S,  but 
could  not  tell  what  T  stood  for.  "What  did  your  mother  drink 
at  breakfast  time  this  morning?"  asked  the  teacher,  and  the 
pupil  answered  truthfully,  "Rum  and  molasses,  sir." 

Mr.  Carter  could  seldom  refrain  from  a  smile  when  telling 
of  his  efforts  to  teach  a  stupid  and  overgrown  boy,  who  lived  a 
long  distance  from  school.  "C-er-a-er-k-er-e-er,"  he  drawled 
one  day  at  recitation.  "Well,  what  does  c-a-k-e  spell?"  asked 
Mr.  C.  The  boy  shook  his  head  despairingly.  "Think  what  you 
have  in  your  dinner  pail,  and  try  it  once  more, ' '  urged  the  mas- 
ter. The  boy  began,  "C-er-a-er-k-er-e-er.  Didn't  brung  the 
same  things  to-day  that  I  did  yistiddy;  brung  slapjacks  to-day." 

About  a  century  ago  there  began  to  be  a  marked  revival  of 
interest  in  the  art  of  spelling.    The  teachers  vied  with  one  an- 


FEOM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  65 

other  in  producing  long  fonrteen-syllabled  words,  which  trained 
the  memory,  but  were  of  little  practical  use.  One  of  their  favor- 
ites was  Ho-no-ri-fi-ca-bi-li-tu-di-ni-ta-te-bus-que,  and  was 
spelled  in  this  way:  ''H-o  Ho,  there's  your  ho,  n-o  no,  there's 
your  no,  bono,  there's  your  bono,  r-i  ri,  there's  your  ri,  honori, 
there's  your  honori,  and  so  on  to  the  end.  The  banner  pupils 
could  reverse  the  process  and  spell  it  backward  in  the  same  way. 

Spelling  schools  have  been  often  described,  but  few  writers 
have  alluded  to  the  joy  and  glory  of  the  encounter,  when  one 
district  challenged  another  to  *' match  up  sides."  Each  school 
appointed  its  best  speller  as  leader,  and  they  severally  chose  a 
picked  crew  from  among  the  brightest  pupils  of  their  respective 
districts. 

On  the  evening  in  question,  each  boy  and  girl  among  the 
challengers  brought  a  tallow  candle  and  a  potato  or  turnip  to 
be  hollowed  out  and  used  as  a  candlestick,  so  that  the  visitors, 
upon  their  arrival,  found  the  room  ablaze  with  light.  The  judge, 
who  had  been  mutually  agreed  upon,  stood  up  and  gave  out  the 
words,  at  first  easy  ones,  but  finally  coming  to  Phthisic,  Feoff- 
ment, Hautboy,  etc.  The  contestants  were  arranged  in  two 
lines  facing  one  another,  and  if  a  pupil  failed  on  a  word  (only 
one  trial  being  allowed),  his  or  her  opposite  spelled  it,  and  if 
correctly,  the  leader  on  the  latter  side  called  over  one  of  the  op- 
posing faction  to  augment  his  own  strength.  Sometimes  the 
leader  alone  was  left,  and  consequently  obliged  to  spell  every 
alternate  word ;  but  this  often  resulted  in  stemming  the  tide  of 
victory  and  bringing  defeat  to  his  opponents,  since  he  could  call 
back  the  best  spellers  from  both  sides.  After  this,  if  time  per- 
mitted, came  a  bout  of  spelling  down.  Each  pupil,  who  missed 
a  word,  was  immediately  seated,  till  none  were  left. 

Teaching  was  not  a  lucrative  profession.  Our  district  rec- 
ords show  that  a  dollar  a  week  in  summer  and  a  dollar  and  a  half 
in  winter,  boarding  'round,  was  looked  upon  as  fair  pay. 

Some  of  these  old  records  are  interesting  reading.  Pearl 
City  District  voted  that  every  member  who  failed  to  set  out  a 
tree  in  the  schoolyard  that  summer  should  be  fined  fifty  cents ; 


66  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

and  if  he  did  not  assist  Harry  Smith  in  leveling  the  ground  his 
fine  should  be  double. 

Falls  Woods  voted  that  any  pupil  who  used  profane  lan- 
guage in  the  schoolhouse  yard  should  be  punished;  for  at  this 
time  the  moral  and  religious  education  of  the  young  was  deemed 
a  matter  of  paramount  importance.  Teachers  of  children  were 
required  to  show  certificates  that  they  were  persons  of  sober 
life  and  conversation ;  and  the  law  directed  that  in  early  stages 
of  life  they  should  instill  a  sense  of  piety  and  virtue,  and  teach 
decent  behavior. 

When  a  master  came  to  us  from  another  town,  he  must  bring 
with  him  a  certificate  from  his  minister  and  the  selectmen,  stat- 
ing that  he  sustained  a  good  moral  character.  If  the  Eev.  Joel 
Hayes,  during  the  last  forty  years  of  his  pastorate  here,  with 
the  consent  of  the  selectmen,  had  allowed  an  instructor  to  teach 
in  our  public  schools  without  such  a  certificate,  he  and  they 
would  have  been  subject  to  a  fine,  one-half  of  which  went  to  the 
informer,  and  the  rest  to  the  poor  of  South  Hadley. 

Master  Hiram  Bagg  was  one  of  our  teachers  who  held  firmly 
to  Solomon's  dictum  in  regard  to  the  training  of  youth,  that 
''the  rod  and  reproof  give  wisdom,"  and  he  maintained  such 
good  order  in  his  schools  that  his  services  were  constantly  in 
demand.  He  usually  began  the  term  with  these  words:  '*If 
scholars  try  to  be  good  they  always  find  me  the  kindest  and 
pleasantest  man  you  ever  saw,  BUT — , ' '  and  the  unfinished  sen- 
tence carried  more  weight  than  a  dozen  threats  would  have  done. 

Soon  after  came  the  transition  from  master  to  mistress  in 
our  winter  schools.  This  change  was  not  easily  effected.  Miss 
T.  taught  for  several  summers  in  the  Center  District  with  such 
marked  success  that  the  Committee  felt  justified  in  offering 
her  a  position  in  the  winter  school.  This  was  an  innovation 
indeed ;  a  woman  to  teach  big  boys !  Her  friends  all  begged  her  to 
refuse,  but  she  had  confidence  in  herself  and  accepted  the  ap- 
pointment. The  result  of  the  experiment,  however,  was  such  a 
mortifying  failure  that  she  immediately  learned  dressmaking, 
and  as  long  as  she  lived  never  again  taught  school. 


FROM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  67 

It  was  rumored  that  the  Prudential  Committee  in  District 
Number  Four  had  hired  the  daughter  of  a  minister  in  a  neigh- 
boring town  to  teach  their  winter  school.  There  arose  a  great 
cry  against  it,  for  the  policy  had  alwaj^s  been  to  employ  home 
talent,  and  the  public  money,  they  asserted,  should  be  kept  in 
the  town. 

The  young  woman  came ;  strong,  purposeful  and  with  abun- 
dant tact;  before  the  close  of  the  term  the  whole  district  were 
ready  to  kneel  at  her  shrine,  and  the  dynasty  of  men  as  teachers 
in  Number  Four  was  at  an  end. 

With  the  advent  of  women  in  our  winter  schools  the  style 
of  punishment  was  changed.  Such  brutalities  as  "sitting  in  a 
whig  chair,"  "holding  down  a  nail,"  etc.,  were  dropped  and 
milder  penalties  substituted.  One  Granby  teacher  earned  the 
perpetual  hatred  of  her  pupils  by  introducing  the  use  of  leather 
spectacles  which,  covering  the  eyes,  entailed  temporary  blind- 
ness and  gave  the  offender  ample  time  in  which  to  reflect  upon 
his  ill  doing. 

Very  young  children  were  now  admitted  to  public  schools, 
and  the  little  three-year-old  girls  were  distinguished  as  Totty 
Smith,  Totty  Clark,  etc.  They  were  placed  at  the  foot  of  the 
primer  class  and  taught  the  alphabet.  The  first  question  to  be 
asked  them  was,  "Who  made  you?"  and  they  were  taught  to 
answer,  reverently,  "God;"  but  they  sometimes  developed  an 
unexpected  theology  of  their  own.  One  little  tot,  in  reply  to  a 
teacher's  question  if  she  did  not  think  God  was  very  good  and 
kind  to  give  her  her  little  feet  to  run  about  with,  answered, 
stoutly,  "No.  Dod  wanted  to  div  me  my  little  feet.  He  didn't 
want  to  see  me  stumpin'  round  the  house  and  backin'  down 
stairs." 

At  the  head  of  this  class  stood  the  children  who  could  read 
c-a-t,  cat,  d-o-g,  dog;  and  sometimes  a  boy  who  was  in  words 
of  four  letters.  One  of  the  latter,  without  a  thought  of  irony, 
persisted  in  reading  goat  g-o,  go,  a-t,  at,  go-at,  and  the  only 
specimen  in  the  vicinity  always  justified  that  pronunciation  of 
its  name. 


6S  IX  OLD  SOUTH  H.IDLEY 

This  class  learned  many  improTing  rhymes,  snch  as : 

"Sixty  seconds  make  a  muinte. 
Sixty  minntes  make  an  hour; 
I  "wish  I  were  a  little  linnet. 

Sitting  in  her  leafy  bower. 
Then  I  shonld  not  have  to  sing  it — 
Sixty  seconds  make  a  minute. 

*  *  Tventy-f  our  hours  make  a  day. 

And  seven  days  will  make  a  week; 
I'd  rather  jimip  npon  the  hay. 

Or  play  at  charming  hide  and  seek. 
Than  coimt  the  honrs  that  make  a  day, 

Or  tell  the  days  that  make  a  week. 

"Four  weeks  will  make  a  month. 

And  twelve  whole  months  will  make  a  year ; 
Now.  I  mnst  say  it  o'er  and  o'er, 

Or  else  it  never  will  be  clear; 
So  once  agaia  I  will  begin  it — 

Sixty  seconds  make  a  minute." 

The  teachers  composed  simple  rhymes  for  their  pupUs  to 
learn.  The  foUowing  by  a  cotmtry  schoolmistress  was  consid- 
ered her  masterpiece,  and  was  given  here  at  the  close  of  school 
on  examination  days. 

'•'Parents  and  friends,  we're  very  glad 
That  you  have  come  to-day 
To  listen  to  the  simple  things 
We  children  have  to  say. 

'•We  learn  to  read,  we  learn  to  spell. 
TVe  learn  to  write  and  cipher,  too, 
And  hope  to  act  our  part  as  well 
In  life  as  our  dear  parents  do. 


z  ^     .1        -  I^TT   5*'-j::i'1'1_  T'^j  """il  J.t;'^-*-'.  SI" 


»»»  - 


IT- 


_i  *"  £.- 


~      :  -  T  'Wis  - 

xit^  iz!T±£'  -if  xbf-  «ri^ril  Wet  "i^sz.  "ii 


'•'O'o"  "«rE" 


r^ 


CHAPTER  FIFTH 

FEOM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE   (CONCLUDED) 

SO  MUCH  has  been  written  in  regard  to  Mary  Lyon's  School 
for  Girls,  people  are  in  danger  of  forgetting  that  a  famous 
boys'  school  was  also  located  in  South  Hadley. 

Soon  after  the  Rebellion  of  1786,  Col.  Ruggles  Woodbridge, 
who  was  now  the  wealthiest  man  in  town,  began  the  building  of 
his  beautiful  home,  now  owned  by  Mrs.  Hollingsworth.  The 
ornamental  carving  within  was  all  hand  work,  and  a  well-known 
antiquarian  once  said  that  it  was  amongst  the  finest  in  the  State. 
The  large  house,  with  its  curiously  paneled  doors,  was  at  first 
but  a  lonely  home.  Col.  Woodbridge  had  been  one  of  a  family  of 
eight  children,  and,  including  visitors  and  servants,  his  father's 
household  had  never  been  a  small  one.  He  had  never  married, 
since  most  of  his  life  had  been  spent  in  an  era  of  continual  ex- 
citement on  account  of  impending  conflict  or  actual  warfare. 
Even  in  the  later  insurrection  it  was  he  who  gathered  a  small 
party  of  men  at  the  old  Woodbridge  Parsonage,  ready  for  bat- 
tle, until  finding  from  his  scouts  that  he  would  be  outnumbered 
by  Shay's  men,  and  lives  would  be  sacrificed  in  the  fight,  he  be- 
came convinced  that  prudence  forbade  his  making  a  sally.  But 
if  the  present  quiet  of  his  dwelling  grew  irksome,  his  active  mind 
soon  devised  a  remedy.  He  had  always  been  a  friend  to  the 
education  of  youth,  his  own  college  course  having  been  of  great 
assistance  to  him  in  life. 

He  was  an  original  thinker  in  advance  of  his  time,  and  his 
theses  during  his  curriculum  often  puzzled  the  professors.  He 
now  decided  to  open  the  "Woodbridge  School  for  Boys,"  and 
it  met  with  such  success  that  he  was  compelled  to  make  one 
addition  after  another  to  his  house,  till  people  said  that  if  it  had 
a  few  more  wings  it  would  be  able  to  fly.  Hartford  and  New 
York  City  alone  sent  thirty  students.  The  first  teacher  was 
Samuel  Ely,  but  the  Colonel  was  head  master  as  far  as  discipline 
was  concerned. 


FEOM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  71 

A  single  example  will  illustrate  his  methods.  After  some 
years  of  faithful  service,  Jerusha,  the  "hired  girl,"  received  an 
advantageous  offer  of  marriage  from  a  well-to-do  farmer,  who 
was  also  the  precentor  at  church.  Her  kindness  to  the  boys  had 
been  so  great  that  Col.  W.  not  only  presented  her  with  a  set  of 
furs,  the  muff  of  which  was  two  feet  long,  but  also  offered  to 
give  her  a  wedding.  On  the  day  before  the  ceremony  a  bride's 
loaf  of  rich  cake  was  carefully  frosted  and  placed  upon  the 
upper  shelf  in  the  pantry.  About  midnight,  a  venturesome  youth 
stole  downstairs  barefooted,  captured  the  cake,  and  bore  it  in 
triumph  to  the  third  story.  The  boys  then  lowered  it  and  them- 
selves to  the  piazza  roof,  and  climbing  down  to  the  ground,  went 
into  the  orchard  to  eat  it,  leaving  no  telltale  crumbs  to  betray 
their  exploit.  Next  morning  there  was  great  excitement;  the 
teachers  said  the  boys  who  had  done  this  should  be  expelled. 
"No,"  answered  the  Colonel,  "that  would  disgrace  them  for 
life.    I  think  I  know  of  a  better  way." 

After  conducting  the  morning  devotions,  he  asked  every 
pupil  to  look  him  straight  in  the  eye,  and  his  keen  vision  singled 
out  the  culprits  by  their  guilty  blushes.  "His  eyes  bored  right 
through  us  like  a  gimlet,"  said  one  of  them  afterwards.  The 
teachers  agreed  that  these  lads  should  at  least  be  locked  in  their 
rooms  during  the  wedding.  Again  Colonel  Woodbridge  said 
"No."  He  told  the  midnight  marauders  that  every  one  of  them 
must  be  present  at  the  ceremony,  but  if- any  of  them,  when  the 
cake  was  passed,  ventured  to  take  a  piece,  he  would  be  expelled 
the  next  morning.  Fifty  years  later  these  lads  used  to  say  that 
Colonel  Woodbridge  had  been  the  making  of  them. 

The  pupils  were  obliged  to  dress  in  uniform,  and  on  Sun- 
day march  two  and  two  into  church  with  military  precision. 
Every  Sabbath  morning  they  had  a  Bible  lesson  at  home,  and 
every  day  at  the  close  of  school  each  boy  recited  a  verse  of 
Scripture. 

Most  of  the  pupils  came  from  old  and  aristocratic  families. 
They  wore  tall  hats,  which  gave  great  offense  to  the  town  boys, 
and  there  were  frequent  collisions  in  which  fists  were  freely 
used.     These  quarrels  were  discountenanced  by  the  teachers, 


72  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

and  after  some  of  the  South  Hadley  boys  entered  the  school  a 
semblance  of  peace  was  maintained. 

A  long  list  might  be  given  of  the  governors  and  other  leading 
men  of  Massachusetts,  who  were  educated  in  this  school,  which 
ranked  high  in  its  intellectual  as  well  as  its  moral  influence. 

The  following  advertisement  appeared  in  an  old  Hampshire 
Gazette : 

''BoAKDiNG  School. 

''Miss  "Wright's  School  will  commence  in  this  town 
the  first  Wednesday  of  May  next,  where  the  usual 
branches  of  education  taught  in  her  school  and  in  other 
female  academies  will  be  duly  attended  to. 

''Particular  attention  will  be  paid  to  the  manners 
and  morals  of  those  who  may  be  committed  to  her  care. 

"South  Hadley,  March  25,  1809." 

The  plan  for  this,  as  well  as  that  of  the  boys'  school,  origi- 
nated with  Colonel  Woodbridge,  and  for  the  preceding  six  years 
it  had  been  a  decided  succuss. 

Previous  to  1800,  girls  appear  to  have  been  excluded  from 
our  public  schools,  except  for  a  few  weeks  in  the  early  summer. 
Any  woman  who  could  read  in  Gumming 's  Catechism,  sign  a 
deed  if  necessary,  and  was  able  to  calculate  how  much  eight 
pounds  of  butter  would  come  to  at  seventeen  cents  per  pound, 
was  looked  upon  as  having  all  the  education  that  was  needful, 
or  in  any  way  befitting  her  sphere.  But  in  1803  the  progress 
toward  modern  methods  received  a  new  impulse  from  the  in- 
stallation of  our  first  postoffice,  and  the  establishment  of  Miss 
Abby  Wright's  School,  one  of  the  very  earliest  academies  de- 
voted exclusively  to  girls  that  was  opened  in  Western  Massa- 
chusetts. Miss  Wright  was  for  those  times  a  lady  of  rare  culture, 
and  though  she  taught  the  most  exquisite  needlework,  was  still 
more  careful  to  see  that  her  pupils  were  well  grounded  in 
mathematics  and  other  essential  branches. 

A  few  extracts  from  Miss  Wright's  journal  and  letters  may 
give  a  brief  glimpse  of  her  school: 

"South  Hadley,  July  22,  1803 — My  school  is  very  agree- 


FBOM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  73 

able,  though  the  attention  they  require  renders  my  task  pretty 
laborious.  The  scholars  are  very  ambitious  and  I  am  glad  to 
encourage  them.  I  tell  them  they  may  come  as  early  as  they 
please  and  I  will  attend  to  them.  Sometimes  they  come  in  at  six 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  ten  shillings 
per  week  is  not  enough  for  such  a  school,  but  when  I  wrote  to 
Col.  Woodbridge  I  set  my  price  at  that  and  did  not  limit  the 
number,  though  I  did  not  expect  there  would  be  more  than 
twenty  scholars." 

''South  Hadley,  Jan.  25,  1804 — I  have  an  excellent  place  to 
board,  which  is  in  the  family  of  Dr.  Stebbins.  They  live  in  a 
kind  of  genteel  snugness,  and  Mrs.  S.  has  not  failed  to  show 
herself  as  friendly  as  a  sister  on  every  occasion  in  which  I  have 
needed  the  assistance  of  a  friend." 

''May  29,  1804 — My  school  goes  on  cleverly,  and  I  have  no 
reason  to  regret  staying  here.  I  keep  in  Mr.  Goodman's  hall  a 
very  convenient  room.  Five  or  six  young  ladies  from  Granby 
who  attend  my  school  board  at  Dea.  Joseph  White's.  The 
number  who  have  applied  for  admission  has  exceeded  my  expec- 
tations. I  admitted  forty  and  applications  were  made  until  I 
positively  refused  to  take  another.  The  major  part  of  them 
are  from  out  of  town,  are  from  fourteen  to  twenty-one  years 
old  and  upward,  and  are  in  general  very  studious  and  attentive 
to  the  rules  of  propriety. 

"The  school  has  acquired  a  greater  degree  of  celebrity  than 
I  wish  and  I  believe  much  greater  than  it  deserves.  On  many 
accounts  this  is  an  excellent  place  for  a  female  academy.  It 
is  pleasantly  situated,  very  healthy,  and  there  are  few  objects  to 
divert  the  attention  of  the  scholar." 

"August  3,  1805 — I  am  now  boarding  at  Eev.  Joel  Hayes. 
I  had  the  honor  of  riding  out  with  him — on  Col.  Woodbridge's 
best  horse — to  visit  at  Eev.  Mr.  Gridley's.  Mrs.  Hayes,  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Stebbins,  Mrs.  Dwight,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph  White, 
rode  in  carriages." 

Two  days  later  she  writes: 

"August  5,  1805 — We  called  in  Springfield  to  see  a  piece 
of  needlework  lately  executed  at  a  celebrated  school  in  Boston. 


74  m  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

It  was  an  elegant  piece,  and  yet  I  have  some  in  my  school  which 
i  should  not  blush  to  compare  with  it,  if  the  expense  of  each 
might  be  admitted  in  the  comparison.  The  piece  I  refer  to  was 
wrought  by  a  Miss  Lyman,  in  memory  of  both  her  parents.  It 
consists  of  a  large  willow,  a  monument,  and  two  urns,  the  figures 
of  a  lady  and  gentleman  and  a  little  boy.  The  expense  of  the 
limner  in  drawing  and  painting  the  faces  was  eight  dollars,  and 
six  months  spent  in  Boston  in  working  it." 

The  following  sensible  advice  was  given  to  her  pupils  upon 
the  opening  day  of  the  term : 

''Perhaps  in  no  period  of  a  woman's  life  is  her  conduct  more 
criticized  and  her  actions  more  liable  to  censure  than  when  at- 
tending a  boarding  school  *  *  *  ge  diligent,  then,  in  im- 
proving your  time;  content  not  yourselves  with  being  merely 
pretty  or  agreeable,  but  endeavor  to  be  useful.  Remember  that 
amusement  is  not  the  business  of  life,  but  use  it  as  a  relaxation 
from  its  cares  that  you  may  return  to  its  duties  with  redoubled 
ardor,  and  remember  that  the  more  good  you  do  the  more  happi- 
ness you  will  enjoy." 

A  short  extract  from  her  farewell  address  to  the  members 
of  the  graduating  class  will  illustrate  the  spirit  and  character  of 
her  teaching: 

' '  My  Dear  Girls :  You  are  now  arrived  at  an  age  when  your 
characters  are  to  be  established  for  life.  How  necessary  is  it 
that  you  have  some  fi^xed  principles  by  which  to  regulate  your 
conduct,  for  she  who  is  governed  by  the  influence  of  the  present 
moment,  who  acts  without  thinking  and  thinks  without  reflect- 
ing, is  as  sure  to  run  into  improprieties  as  the  seaman  who  sails 
without  a  pilot  or  compass  is  to  dash  upon  the  rocks.  *  *  * 
Let  books  be  the  constant  companions  of  your  lives,  accustom 
yourselves  every  day  to  spend  a  little  time  in  reading  and  let 
the  Holy  Scriptures  make  at  least  some  part  of  your  studies." 

The  termination  of  this  school  was  a  source  of  deep  regret 
to  the  people  of  South  Hadley,  but  all  were  glad  that  Miss 
Wright,  as  the  wife  of  Captain  Peter  Allen,  would  remain  a 
member  of  the  town.  The  marriage  proved  to  be  a  happy  one, 
and  in  her  hospitable  home,  which  stood  just  in  front  of  the  pres- 


FEOM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  75 

ent  Pearson  Hall,  Mary  Lyon  was  a  frequent  and  always  wel- 
come visitor,  especially  while  the  Seminary  Building  was  in 
process  of  erection.  It  was  said  that  Mrs.  Allen's  age  and  ex- 
perience enabled  her  to  be  of  great  use  to  Miss  Lyon  during  this 
period. 

Her  commanding  influence  made  her  a  power  in  the  church, 
and  she  was  the  acknowledged  leader  in  all  benevolent  enter- 
prises. Her  death  occurred  in  1842,  in  the  sixty-ninth  year  of 
her  age,  and  her  funeral  sermon  was  preached  from  the  text: 
'* Precious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  is  the  death  of  His  saints." 

On  a  bleak  hillside  in  Buckland,  near  the  door  of  a  small 
house,  a  young  girl  was  standing.  She  looked  toward  the  stone- 
walled pasture,  where  the  sheep  were  leisurely  browsing,  for 
she  knew  that  from  them  must  come  the  thick,  woolen  dress 
for  her  daily  winter  wear — always  a  red  dress,  everyone  said 
red  was  such  a  durable  color.  But  she  knew  the  wool  must  first 
be  carded  and  spun,  dyed  and  woven,  and  already  she  was  learn- 
ing to  knit,  spin  and  weave.  In  the  field  of  flax  near-by  she  saw 
the  brown  linen  gown  for  summer's  use,  but  swingle,  and  hetchel, 
wheel,  and  loom  must  each  do  their  appointed  task.  As  she 
mused,  a  voice  from  the  doorway  called, ' '  Mary ! ' '  and  she  could 
easily  guess  the  duty  that  awaited  her.  The  long  potatoes  of 
that  day  formed  an  essential  part  of  the  midday  meal,  and  since 
there  was  no  stove  in  the  house  they  must  be  roasted  in  the  hot 
ashes  of  the  big  fireplace.  People  were  at  this  time  expected  to 
eat  the  whole  of  the  baked  potato,  including  the  outer  covering, 
or  skin.  In  order  to  do  this,  every  trace  of  the  ashes  must  be 
removed  before  bringing  them  to  the  table.  The  wings  of  the 
wild  turkey  furnished  the  substitute  for  our  modern  brushes, 
and  it  was  a  frequent  request  in  the  Lyon  household  that  Mary 
should  be  the  one  to  ''wing  the  potatoes,  because  she  makes  them 
so  clean."  By  these  habits  of  patient  industry,  Mary  Lyon 
was  laying  the  foundations  of  a  character  which  would  eventu- 
ally win  her  an  honored  place  in  the  Hall  of  Fame. 

In  spite  of  poverty,  her  early  home  was  a  happy  one.    Most 
of  the  food  and  clothing  for  the  seven  children  was  supplied 


76  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

by  the  little  farm,  and  there  was  always  something  which  they 
could  share  with  a  neighbor  more  in  need  than  themselves. 
Though  they  had  but  few  conveniences,  their  lot  was  but  the 
common  lot  of  all,  for  even  in  the  minister 's  dwelling  there  was 
no  stove.    Our  necessities  were  their  luxuries. 

Before  Mary  had  completed  her  sixth  year  a  dark  shadow 
had  fallen  upon  the  household,  a  shadow  that  was  never  wholly 
lifted  from  their  lives.  In  December  of  1802,  her  father  became 
alarmingly  ill.  On  the  day  before  his  death  he  was  constantly 
repeating  "Thou  art  my  rock  and  my  fortress,  my  high  tower 
and  my  deliverer,"  and  other  kindred  texts.  It  was  the  com- 
mon belief  that  a  peculiar  sanctity  was  attached  to  the  words  of 
those  who  were  approaching  death,  and  children  were  often  car- 
ried for  miles  in  order  to  receive  what  was  termed  the  Djdng 
Blessing.  On  the  following  morning  Mr.  Lyon  summoned  the 
family  to  his  bedside  and  spoke  tender  words  of  farewell.  The 
baby  in  the  arms  of  her  elder  sister  added  pathos  to  the  scene 
by  calling  now  and  then,  in  a  pitiful  little  voice,  "Papa!  Papa!" 
Bidding  them  cling  more  closely  to  each  other  and  always  love 
one  another,  he  added:  "My  dear  children,  what  shall  I  say  to 
you?    God  bless  you,  my  children. "    These  were  his  last  words. 

The  girlhood  of  Mary  Lyon  was  an  uneventful  one.  Her 
teachers  found  her  an  apt  scholar,  diligent,  quick  to  learn  and 
possessing  a  most  retentive  memory.  She  was  fond  of  books 
and  might  often  be  found  in  a  corner  of  the  kitchen  preparing 
her  lesson  for  the  next  day's  recitation. 

Her  leading  characteristic  at  this  time  appears  to  have  been 
her  deep  reverence  for  tlie  sacred  hours  of  the  Sabbath.  In 
pleasant  weather  it  was  the  fashion  for  the  members  of  the  con- 
gregation, during  the  intermission  between  the  morning  and 
afternoon  service,  to  stroll  out  into  the  old  bur^dng  ground. 
Here  they  ate  their  simple  lunch  and  talked  in  low,  subdued 
tones.  It  sometimes  happened  that  a  group  of  young  people  met. 
and,  freed  from  the  restraining  presence  of  their  elders,  indulged 
in  light  conversation,  which  seemed  to  her  ill  befitting  the  day. 
Upon  such  occasions  she  always  left  them,  and  the  silent  re- 
proof of  her  example  was  perhaps  more  potent  than  words. 


FROM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  77 

In  the  present  age  it  is  difficult  to  realize  the  strictness  in 
regard  to  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  which  prevailed  a  cen- 
tury ago.  Then  no  beds  could  be  made,  nor  rooms  swept  until 
after  sunset,  and  in  many  families  no  cooking  of  food  was  al- 
lowed on  the  Lord's  Day.* 

Miss  Lyon  never  permitted  either  herself  or  her  pupils  to 
write  letters  on  Sunday.  About  1840  one  of  the  students  in 
Mount  Holyoke  Seminary,  whose  mother  was  ill,  asked  permis- 
sion on  that  account  to  write  her  on  the  Sabbath.  In  South  Had- 
ley  the  mail  closed  in  the  morning  at  nine  o'clock.  Miss  Lyon 
asked  her  pupil  if  she  could  not  write  a  letter  on  Monday  before 
the  mail  went  out.  The  girl  replied  that  it  would  be  impossible, 
as  she  had  a  recitation  in  Logic  at  eight  o'clock.  "Then,"  said 
Miss  Lyon,  "I  will  excuse  you  from  the  recitation  and  you  can 
write  your  letter  at  that  time." 

A  pupil  once  asked  her  if  she  considered  it  a  sin  to  write 
religious  letters  on  the  Sabbath.  Her  reply  was:  "If  you  are 
deeply  interested  in  the  conversion  of  an  impenitent  friend,  I  do 
not  say  that  it  would  be  wrong  to  write  to  her  on  Sunday,  but 
think  how  much  greater  weight  the  letter  would  carry  if  written 
during  recreation  hours." 

She  was  equally  strict  in  regard  to  herself.  Upon  one  occa- 
sion she  waited  in  Buffalo  for  the  stage  which  was  to  convey  her 
to  her  sister's  home,  waited  from  Saturday  morning  until  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  When  it  came  she  found  that  by  tak- 
ing it  she  could  reach  her  sister 's  house  early  the  next  morning. 


*  A  grandson  of  Jonathan  Edwards  left  us  the  following  description  of  a 
Massachusetts  man:  "However  busy  the  season,  even  when  his  crops  were 
exposed  to  destruction  by  rain,  he  dismissed  all  the  laborers  so  early  on  Satur- 
day afternoon  as  to  enable  them  to  reach  their  own  homes  before  sunset — 
the  time  when  be  began  the  Sabbath.  His  cattle  were  all  fed,  his  cows  milked, 
the  vegetables  for  the  ensuing  day  prepared,  and  his  family  summoned  together 
previous  to  this  sacred  period.  Until  nine  o'clock  he  spent  the  evening  with 
his  household  in  reading  and  prayer,  and  at  this  moment  they  uniformly  re- 
tired to  their  beds.  No  room  in  his  house  was  swept,  no  bed  was  made,  nor 
was  any  act,  except  such  as  were  acts  of  necessity  and  mercy  in  the  strict 
sense,  done  until  sunset  on  the  succeeding  day,  when  in  his  opinion  the  Sab- 
bath terminated." 


^8  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

but  felt  that  it  would  be  a  profanation  of  holy  time  to  travel  on 
Saturday  night,  and  accordingly  remained  in  Buffalo  until  the 
following  Monday. 

In  the  busy  days  of  her  early  womanhood,  Mary  Lyon  found 
little  time  for  youthful  love  and  romance.    After  she  became  a 
teacher,  however,  an  incident  occurred  which  showed  her  entire 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  education.    A  young  man,  whose  birth- 
place was  but  three  or  four  miles  from  our  South  Hadley  church, 
studied  for  the  ministry  and  entered  the  missionary  fields  in 
what  was  then  looked  upon  as  the  Far  West.     He  spent  two 
years  in  teaching  the  whites  and  Indians  and  then  came  East  in 
order  to  find  a  wife  who  could  assist  him  in  his  work.    He  con- 
fided his  wishes  to  a  friend,  who  suggested  that  Mary  Lyon  was 
well  suited  to  this  position.     The  young  minister  called  upon 
Miss  Lyon,  and  as  a  missionary's  wooing  was  often  a  speedy 
one,  after  two  or  three  interviews  he  asked  her  to  marry  him. 
She  thanked  him  for  the  compliment  he  had  paid  her,  but  gently 
told  him  that  her  mind  was  so  filled  with  plans  for  the  elevation 
and  improvement  of  schools  for  young  women  that  she  had  room 
for  but  little  else.    She  added,  however:  "1  will  do  better  for 
you  than  to  marry  you;  I  will  introduce  you  to  one  of  my  friends, 
who  is  just  suited  to  be  your  associate  in  this  work,  and  who 
will,  I  feel  sure,  make  your  home  a  far  happier  one  than  I  could 
ever  hope  to  do."    The  young  man  followed  her  advice,  and  the 
wife  proved  a  willing  and  able  helper. 

This  was  not  the  only  occasion  upon  which  Mary  Lyon  was 
compelled  to  explain  to  a  disappointed  suitor  the  high  purpose 
of  her  life.  Even  after  the  Seminary  Building  was  well  on  its 
way  toward  completion,  a  widower  with  six  young  daughters 
came  to  South  Hadley  because  someone  had  told  him  that  Miss 
Lyon  was  just  the  wife  for  him.  The  matter  was  whispered 
from  one  to  another,  and  Mr.  Joel  Hayes,  who  was  a  son  of  our 
former  minister,  and  who  lived  in  our  third  parsonage,  now 
owned  by  Mrs.  Lester,  volunteered  to  give  a  tea  party  in  order 
that  the  two  might  be  introduced  to  one  another.  Invitations 
were  sent  to  Captain  Peter  Allen,  Eev.  Mr.  Condit,  Dr.  Elihu 


FEOM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  79 

Dwight,  Mr.  E.  T.  Smith,  Deacon  Moses  Montague,  Mr.  Cyrus 
White,  and  others.  These  invitations  included  their  wives  also, 
and  Miss  Lyon,  who  was  at  that  time  a  guest  at  Captain  Allen's. 
It  was  thought  that  this  arrangement  would  enable  the  widower 
to  accompany  Miss  Lyon  home,  when  he  could  ask  permission  to 
**pay  his  addresses  to  her." 

One  of  the  company,  who  was  a  somewhat  clumsy  joker, 
told  Miss  Lyon  in  a  low  voice  that  he  never  expected  to  see  her 
preside  over  Mount  Holyoke  Female  Seminary.  "And  why 
not?"  she  asked  quickly.  ''Because,"  he  replied,  "I  think  you 
will  take  a  smaller  school,  with  but  a  single  pupil."  Miss  Lyon 
instantly  divined  the  situation,  and  not  wishing  the  matter  to  go 
farther,  found  a  quiet  moment  in  which  she  could  hint  to  Mrs. 
Abby  Wright  Allen  her  desire  to  return  home  before  the  break- 
ing up  of  the  party. 

At  this  time  etiquette  demanded  that  at  the  tea  table  hus- 
band and  wife  should  sit  next  one  another.  This  gave  Mrs.  Allen 
an  opportunity  to  arrange  with  the  Captain  for  their  early  de- 
parture. A  little  later  the  three  excused  themselves  and  went 
home,  leaving  the  widower  to  his  own  reflections. 

When  Mary  Lyon  found  that  the  dream  of  her  life  was  near- 
ing  its  fulfillment,  a  question  arose  in  regard  to  the  location  of 
the  new  seminary.  Rev.  Roswell  Hawks,  who  had  resigned  his 
pastorate  in  order  to  aid  in  the  work,  was  an  intimate  friend  of 
Rev.  Artemas  Boies,  who  was  at  this  time  our  minister.  The 
latter  wrote  to  Mr.  Hawks :  "Do  not  let  Miss  Lyon  decide  upon  a 
situation  until  she  has  seen  South  Hadley.  This  is  an  ideal  place 
for  such  a  school." 

It  was  in  response  to  this  invitation  that  she  first  visited 
our  town,  with  the  view  of  finding  a  suitable  place  for  locating 
the  seminary.  She  finally  decided  to  establish  the  school  here, 
asking  only  that  the  townspeople  should  provide  a  site  and  help 
on  the  building  to  the  utmost  of  their  ability.  Eight  thousand 
dollars  was  promptly  subscribed  in  work  and  money,  but  when 
the  time  for  pajTuent  arrived  many  gave  double  the  amount 
which  they  had  promised. 


80  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

Mr.  Plawks  and  Miss  Lyon  solicited  contributions  for  the 
seminary,  both  for  the  building  itself  and  its  needed  furnishings, 
and  for  this  purpose  made  frequent  tours.  Their  friends  in  this 
vicinity  sometimes  loaned  them  their  best  horse  and  chaise,  and 
sometimes,  alas !  a  superannuated  horse  and  decrepit  vehicle. 

The  word  "hospitality"  has  now  lost  much  of  its  former 
significance.  Then  it  meant  that  they  would  be  welcomed  every- 
where, and  breakfast,  dinner,  supper  and  lodging  could  be  had 
for  the  asking.  A  single  instance  will  illustrate  their  methods. 
' '  One  bitter  cold  night  in  December,  1835,  a  gentleman  and  lady 
drove  to  the  door  of  Mrs.  F.'s  early  home  and  asked  for  a  night's 
lodging.  She  gave  them  a  cordial  welcome,  but  told  the  gentle- 
man he  would  have  to  care  for  his  horse,  as  her  husband  had  gone 
to  meeting.  She  soon  found  her  guests  to  be  Eev.  Koswell 
Hawks  and  Mary  Lyon.  They  were  on  a  pilgrimage  through  the 
towns  of  Western  Massachusetts,  soliciting  funds  and  other 
donations  for  the  new  female  seminary  to  be  founded  at  South 
Hadley. 

"A  pleasant  evening  was  passed,  Mary  Lyon  taking  out  her 
knitting  work  and  wisely  plying  her  needles  as  she  engaged  in 
conversation.  All  were  up  at  an  early  hour  next  morning,  as 
was  the  custom  of  farmers,  and  the  guests  were  anxious  to 
make  an  early  start.  As  the  sleigh  was  brought  out  it  was  found 
to  be  sadly  in  need  of  repairs;  the  harness,  too,  needed  mend- 
ing, and  after  considerable  delay  in  patching  things,  they  started 
on  their  journey,  rejoicing  over  a  gift  of  fifty  dollars  from  their 
host.  In  front  of  them  in  the  sleigh  was  a  tub  filled  with  articles 
donated  by  friends." 

Later,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  F.  visited  the  seminary,  and  as  they 
sat  down  to  dinner  Mary  Lyon  quietly  remarked  that  this  was 
their  bread  and  milk  day — plenty  of  sweet  milk,  good  bread, 
stewed  sweet  apples  and  pie  made  up  the  menu  for  the  day's 
dinner. 

In  1835,  a  difference  of  opinion  arose  among  Miss  Lyon's 
co-workers  in  regard  to  the  location  of  the  new  school.  Some 
who  lived  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  state  wished  it  to  be  near 


FEOM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  81 

Boston,  others  were  equally  insistent  that  it  should  be  in  the 
Connecticut  Valley. 

Miss  Lyon  well  knew  that  the  Ipswich  Seminary  had  for 
years  occupied  the  field  north  of  Boston,  and  this  very  summer 
Wheaton  Female  Seminary  was  opened  about  twenty-five  miles 
south  of  that  city.  She,  herself,  taught  in  both  institutions,  and 
in  the  latter  school  is  said  to  have  taken  a  class  through  Adam's 
arithmetic  in  three  weeks'  time.  Under  such  circumstances  she 
adhered  firmly  to  her  purpose  of  locating  at  South  Hadley,  and 
the  others  all  yielded  to  her  decision. 

It  was  now  necessary  to  fix  upon  a  site  for  the  building. 
Her  first  plan  was  to  place  it  upon  the  summit  of  Prospect  Hill, 
which  commands  a  fine  view  of  the  surrounding  country.  A 
beautiful  landscape  was,  in  her  eyes,  a  continual  education,  but 
when  she  thought  of  the  toil  involved  in  the  steep  ascent — far 
steeper  then  than  now — it  seemed  wiser  to  choose  a  more  acces- 
sible spot,  and  another  site  was  offered,  which  embraced  the 
present  summer  residence  of  J.  A.  Skinner  and  gave  a  pic- 
turesque view  of  mountain  and  valley.  This  situation  would 
have  been  entirely  satisfactory  but  for  its  distance  from  church. 
She  expected  that  her  pupils  would  attend  both  morning  and 
afternoon  service,  in  storm  as  well  as  in  sunshine,  and  it  seemed 
better  to  place  the  building  at  a  less  distance  from  the  meeting 
house,  as  at  this  time  umbrellas  were  both  rare  and  costly. 

Opposite  the  Old  Burying  Ground  was  a  sandy  pasture,  a 
part  of  which  was  covered  with  huckleberry  bushes  and  the  re- 
mainder was  used  as  a  boys'  playground.  Mr.  David  Choate, 
one  of  her  friendly  advisers,  standing  one  day  upon  the  present 
site  of  the  Mary  Lyon  Chapel,  said  quietly:  ''This  is  the  right 
place,  I  believe."  At  his  side  stood  an  old  pear  tree,  which  had 
probably  shadowed  the  walls  of  South  Hadley 's  first  dwelling 
house.  The  owner  of  this  tree  had  allowed  the  village  boys  to 
gather  its  fruit  at  their  pleasure.  Mr.  J.  once  told  the  author 
that  in  1836,  when  he  was  a  boy,  one  summer  morning  he  had 
climbed  into  the  old  pear  tree,  when  a  man  named  John  Preston 
approached  with  an  axe,  saying  that  he  had  been  directed  to  cut 
down  the  tree  and  dig  up  the  stump,  as  this  spot  was  needed  for 


82  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

the  new  seminary.    Hastily  filling  his  pockets  with  fruit,  he  re- 
turned home  with  laggard  steps,  while  across  the  street  the  little 
children  asked  with  tearful  voice,  "Where  shall  we  go  huckle 
berrying?" 

The  laying  of  the  cornerstone  was  a  memorable  affair  in 
South  Hadley,  and  great  preparations  were  made  for  its  cele- 
bration. Mr.  Todd  was  engaged  to  deliver  an  address  in  the 
village  church,  and  Mr.  Dexter  Ingraham,  the  leader  of  the  choir, 
invited  the  young  people  to  assist  upon  this  occasion.  He 
trained  a  chorus  of  nearly  one  hundred  voices  which,  led  by  a 
good  orchestra,  furnished  inspiring  music. 

After  the  services  at  the  church  were  ended,  the  congrega- 
tion formed  in  procession  and  marched,  two  and  two,  to  the 
northwestern  extremity  of  the  Seminary  Building.  Here  the 
cornerstone  was  laid  with  appropriate  exercises,  and  upon  this 
occasion  it  is  said  that  Miss  Lyon  stooped  down  and  wrote, ' '  The 
Lord  hath  remembered  our  low  estate."* 

*Recollections  of  Mary  Lyon,  by  Fidelia  Fiske,  page  93. 

The  following  account  of  Miss  Lyon's  first  years  in  South 
Hadley  is  from  the  pen  of  Mrs.  Cynthia  Wright  Herrick,  and 
was  written  soon  after  the  fire  of  1896: 

' '  My  remembrance  of  Mary  Lyon,  and  the  influence  she  ex- 
erted upon  individuals  with  whom  she  came  in  contact,  dates 
back  to  my  fifth  year  of  childhood.  Our  family  had  moved  to 
South  Hadley  in  order  to  obtain  better  facilities  for  schooling. 
When  our  home  was  first  established  there,  her  seminary  build- 
ing was  nearing  the  third  story.  Her  experiment  was  discussed 
around  our  hearth  by  neighbors  and  friends  nearly  every  even- 
ing. The  pros  and  cons  as  often  against  as  for  her.  An  open 
declaration  of  war  with  England  would  hardly  have  created 
more  controversy.  Even  her  well  wishers  predicted  failure ;  her 
enemies  felt  that  it  would  curse  the  town,  and  one  good  South 
Hadley  deacon  predicted  there  would  not  be  a  girl  in  the  place 
worth  marrying,  with  their  higher  education.  It  is  well  that 
none  of  them  read  with  a  prophetic  eye. 

''During  this  period  I  had  no  idea  what  kind  of  a  creature 
this  Mary  Lyon  was.    I  fully  believed  she  was  some  kind  of  a 


4M'f^ 


FEOM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  83 

monster,  but  of  what  species  I  was  ignorant.  One  day  I  ven- 
tured to  ask  one  of  my  big  brothers  what  kind  of  a  lion  a  Mary 
lion  was.  He  looked  at  me  a  moment  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eyes, 
and  replied  that  it  was  a  kind  that  fed  on  girls  entirely  and  had 
no  use  for  boys  whatever;  that  there  was  to  be  a  large,  brick 
cage  built,  and  there  they  would  live  with  the  Lyon  till  she  dis- 
posed of  them.  He  then  informed  me  that  I  might  be  snapped 
up  between  times  if  I  ran  away,  or  stayed  out  late  at  night.  I 
was  also  told  that  he  had  heard  father  say  he  should  send  me 
there  when  I  was  older.  I  assure  you,  I  had  my  opinion  of  Mary 
Lyon  after  that,  and  the  darkness  never  found  me  away  from 
home. 

' '  The  first  time  I  saw  her  she  was  sitting  beside  my  invalid 
mother,  her  eyes  sparkling,  talking  volubly  of  the  need  of  quilts, 
pillows ;  anything  that  pertained  to  household  furnishings.  She 
pushed  her  chair  nearer  as  she  talked,  and  at  last  my  mother 
consented  to  aid  her,  after  Miss  Lyon  had  taken  her  hand  in 
her  own  and  gently  held  it.  No  young  lady  who  has  ever  felt  the 
pressure  of  that  hand  will  deny  the  magnetic  influence  that  it 
exerted.  I  was  standing  behind  the  kitchen  door  looking  through 
the  crack  to  see  a  Mary  lion,  and  she  was  just  a  blue-eyed,  red- 
cheeked  woman. 

''About  that  time  my  father  came  in  one  morning  and 
stated  the  fact  that  the  seminary  had  completely  disappeared  off 
the  face  of  the  earth  during  the  night.  The  three  stories  col- 
lapsed, and  the  plan  of  educating  women  was  supposed  to  have 
incurred  the  Divine  displeasure. 

''When  Miss  Lyon  saw  the  ruins  of  her  long-cherished 
hopes,  she  exclaimed,  'How  glad  I  am  that  no  one  is  hurt.'  It 
was  discovered  later  that  the  foundation  was  permeated  with 
quicksand,  which  caused  the  ruin. 

"Miss  Lyon  soon  rebuilt  the  seminary,  having  raised 
twenty-seven  thousand  dollars,  which  she  collected  in  sums  rang- 
ing from  six  cents,  in  three  instances,  to  one  thousand  dollars 
in  but  two,  and  there  were  eighteen  hundred  subscribers. 

"The  cornerstone  of  Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary  was  laid  Octo- 
ber 3,  1836,  and  the  school  was  opened  with  four  teachers  and 


84  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

eighty  scholars  on  November  8,  1837.  During  the  first  year  the 
number  of  scholars  increased  to  one  hundred  and  sixteen.  At 
the  time  of  Mary  Lyon's  death,  in  1849,  there  were  fourteen 
teachers  and  two  hundred  and  twenty-nine  pupils. 

**Miss  Lyon  had  a  correct  yet  nimble  and  elastic  judgment 
which  could  adapt  itself  to  any  situation.  Her  aim  was  singu- 
larly unselfish,  and  for  this  high  purpose  she  put  aside  all  merely 
personal  matters.  Declining  marriage,  a  sacrifice  much  greater 
for  her  than  for  one  less  affectionate  and  domestic,  she  gave  her 
life  in  as  pure  and  lofty  a  devotion  as  ever  characterized  a  Saint 
Theresa. 

*'I  entered  the  seminary  the  year  Miss  Lyon  died.  She  met 
me  with  a  smile,  called  me  her  new  daughter,  and  informed 
me  that  my  trunk  had  been  mislaid  and  I  could  have  the  pleasure 
of  sharing  a  room  with  one  of  the  teachers  until  my  absent  trunk 
was  found. 

''Miss  Lyon  had  few  duties  in  the  school  room.  She  taught 
only  Butler's  Analogy  and  Chemistry. 

''The  first  week  of  the  new  scholars  was  to  most  of  us  a 
homesick  season,  but  when  Miss  Lyon  came  into  the  seminary 
hall,  with  her  Bible  under  her  arm,  and  her  face  shining  as  if 
she  had  been  in  communion  with  Deity,  she  would  speak  words 
worth  cherishing.  It  was  then  that  she  impressed  upon  us  the 
power  of  littles — little  habits,  little  sins,  transient  thoughts, 
cherished  indulgences,  and  their  importance  in  the  formation  of 
character.  She  always  placed  the  sufferings  of  Christ  and  His 
self-denials  in  such  a  clear  and  vivid  light  that  the  common  trials 
of  a  school  girl's  life  were  not  for  a  moment  to  be  thought  of. 
At  these  times  she  seemed  beautiful  to  me. 

' '  One  of  my  fellow  students  was  taken  very  ill  with  malig- 
nant erysipelas,  which  proved  fatal.  Miss  Lyon  scarcely  left  her 
bedside  and  herself  contracted  the  disease.  The  young  lady's 
coffin  was  placed  in  front  of  the  platform  in  the  seminary  hall, 
and  Miss  Lyon,  with  tears  rolling  down  her  cheeks,  talked  of  the 
dear  sister.  Her  last  words  to  us  were  these,  "Young  ladies, 
if  I  could  fold  my  hands  and  lay  down  in  our  dear  sister's 
place,  with  God's  voice  saying,  'Your  work  is  done,  come  up 


,  <  l' 


A^^-i^J'^    


FROM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  85 

higher,'  I  should  be  so  glad  to  go."  She  only  lived  three  days 
afterwards.  It  was  predicted  that  the  seminary  would  prove  a 
failure  after  her  death,  but  she  had  planted  and  pruned  too 
wisely  for  the  tree  to  die  after  all  its  early  care,  and  now  we  are 
proud  and  a  little  boastful  of  Holyoke  as  the  finest  and  most 
progressive  school  in  the  world." 

One  of  Mary  Lyon's  greatest  objects  in  founding  the  semi- 
nary was  to  bring  education  within  reach  of  the  poor.  The 
trustees  sympathized  with  this  desire,  and  said  that  since  the 
expense  of  the  building  had  been  defrayed  by  gifts  of  money, 
and  voluntary  labor,  no  charge  should  be  made  for  room  rent 
and  the  price  of  board,  including  tuition,  should  be  placed  at  the 
small  sum  of  one  dollar  and  a  half  a  week. 

Under  these  circumstances  no  person  of  less  executive  abil- 
ity than  Miss  Lyon  could  have  carried  the  school  through  its 
first  year  to  a  successful  finish. 

As  no  help  was  hired,  except  one  man  for  heavy  lifting  and 
the  carrying  of  wood,  the  labor  of  the  household  devolved  upon 
the  young  ladies,  as  Miss  Lyon  always  called  them.  Each  of 
these  was  assigned  her  part  in  what  was  termed  their  domestic 
work,  which  occupied  on  an  average  about  an  hour  a  day. 

They  were  formed  into  circles,  according  to  the  different 
duties  assigned  them.  The  dinner  circle  prepared  the  food  for 
the  mid-day  meal,  after  which  the  blue  crockery  circle  washed 
and  wiped  the  willow  ware  then  in  use.  The  work  was  all 
classified  and  carried  on  with  unerring  precision.  If  a  pupil  was 
absent,  either  by  reason  of  illness  or  from  some  other  cause, 
her  place  was  promptly  filled  by  a  member  of  the  miscellaneous 
circle,  who  could  turn  their  hands  to  an5i:hing. 

Nor  were  the  pupils  dissatisfied  with  this  division  of  labor. 
They  sang  blithely  at  their  work,  or  chatted  merrily,  and  it 
would  be  hard  to  find  even  among  the  college  girls  of  to-day  a 
happier  set  of  faces  than  those  that  brightened  the  old  domestic 
hall  in  the  days  long  gone  by. 

Five  years  after  the  school  opened  Miss  Lyon  wrote  to  a 
friend,  ''Everything  is  systematized,  and  Miss  Moore  and  Miss 
Whitman  urge  forward  the  wheels  so  beautifully  that  all  seems 


86  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

more  than  ever  like  clock-work."  In  her  modesty,  Mary  Lyon 
did  not  realize  that  she  was  herself  the  mainspring  of  it  all. 
Her  firm  will,  sometimes  half  veiled  under  a  playful  manner, 
carried  everything  before  it. 

Mr.  Hawks  once  differed  from  her  in  regard  to  some  pro- 
posed plan,  and  being  the  president  of  the  trustees,  said  with 
some  dignity,  ''Miss  Lyon,  i^lease  to  remember  that  I  am  the 
head  of  this  institution."  "Well,"  she  returned,  quickly,  "if 
you  are  the  head  I  am  the  neck  that  turns  the  head,"  and  she 
had  her  way. 

The  pupils  always  complied  with  her  wishes,  and  usually 
with  cheerful  readiness.  Once  she  gave  them  an  unexpected 
holiday,  in  order  that  they  might  visit  Mount  Holyoke.  She 
had,  as  she  supposed,  guarded  her  plans  with  care,  but  hardly 
had  her  pupils  reached  the  summit  when  she  was  told  that  a  mes- 
senger on  horseback  had  been  seen  riding  post-haste  through 
the  notch  to  Amherst,  and  she  knew  that  the  college  boys  would 
soon  be  flocking  toward  the  mountain.  Sending  for  Mr.  Hawks, 
she  asked  him  to  procure  teams  and  go  at  once  to  Mount  Holy- 
oke with  a  summons  for  the  immediate  return  of  the  party.  He 
would  gladly  have  been  excused  from  this  duty,  but  did  as  she 
desired.  In  spite  of  their  disappointment,  all  yielded  to  her  re- 
quest. One  of  them,  however,  remarked  in  an  audible  voice  as 
they  descended  the  mountain,  "It  seems  that  we  escaped  from 
the  Lyon 's  den  only  to  fall  into  a  Hawks '  nest. ' ' 

Few  of  their  outings  were  better  enjoyed  than  going  berry- 
ing. On  a  pleasant  Wednesday,  when  the  swamp  huckleberries 
were  ripe,  some  of  the  good-natured  farmers  of  this  vicinity 
drove  to  the  front  of  the  seminary  building  with  their  big  hay 
wagons  and  waited  while  the  girls  climbed  joyfully  in.  Accom- 
panied by  Miss  Lyon,  or  one  of  the  older  teachers,  they  rode 
across  the  plains  with  song  and  laughter,  till  they  reached  "the 
slipe."  Tin  pails  and  willow  backets  were  then  much  in  request, 
for  all  knew  that  the  fruit  of  their  afternoon's  labor  would  add 
to  the  present  menu,  besides  being  in  part  preserved  for  winter's 
use,  when  dried  huckleberry  pies  were  not  to  be  despised.  And 
if,  on  the  way  home,  each  contributed  an  amusing  story,  Miss 


FEOM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  87 

Lyon's  was  sure  to  be  the  best  and  wittiest  one  of  all,  thongh  at 
its  end,  like  the  old  edition  of  Aesop's  Fables,  there  was  gener- 
ally a  moral  ready  to  be  attached. 

Dnring  the  early  years  of  the  seminary,  the  fnmitare  was 
simple  and  the  food  plain.  This  was  a  necessity  since  sixty 
dollars  a  year  from  each  pupil  must  defray  the  cost  of  provision 
and  the  salaries  of  the  teachers. 

Tea  and  coffee  never  appeared  upon  the  tables  except  on 
Sunday  morning,  at  which  time  crust  coffee  was  added  to  the 
usual  menu.  This  was  prepared  by  toasting  dry  pieces  of  bread 
very  brown,  and  then  pouring  boiling  water  over  them.  This. 
though  somewhat  colorless,  made,  with  the  addition  of  milk  and 
sugar,  a  pleasant  beverage.  But  the  girls  never  seemed  to  miss 
the  luxuries  of  to-day,  and  their  robust  health  made  an  isolated 
sickroom  almost  needless. 

In  case  of  a  slight  indisposition,  tea  and  toast  would  be 
sent  at  meal  times  to  the  room  of  the  pupil,  but  a  small  sum  was 
charged  as  the  price  of  this  extra  privilege.  One  girl,  who  had 
inherited  an  indolent  disposition,  but  had  brought  with  her  an 
abundant  supply  of  pocket  money,  fell  into  the  habit  of  taking 
her  breakfast  in  bed  nearly  every  morning.  This  coming  to  the 
knowledge  of  Miss  Lyon,  she  herself  took  the  tray  to  the  pupil's 
room  one  morning,  saying  that  she  had  missed  her  from  the 
dining  hall,  and  inquiring  solicitously  in  regard  to  her  pupil's 
health.  Before  leaving  she  took  up  the  tray  and  said,  "My 
young  ladies  are  all  of  them  so  busy  that  in  future  I  will  myself 
bring  up  your  tea  and  toast  whenever  you  need  them."  The 
invalid  was  by  this  time  completely  recovered,  with  no  danger 
of  a  relapse. 

"While  Mary  Lyon  allowed  her  pupils  to  bring  rocking- 
chairs  with  them  if  they  so  desired,  she  discouraged  their  use 
as  far  as  possible.  She  said  it  made  people  lazy  to  sit  in  them. 
She  might  well  have  echoed  the  plaint  of  an  old  man  at  South 
Hadley  Falls,  *•  Nothing's  good  enough  since  the  Eevolutionary 
War,"  said  he,  "it's  nothing  but  change,  change.  Folks  used 
to  think  when  they  was  sick,  or  old,  that  they  was  well  off  with 


88  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

arms  to  their  cheers.  But  now  it's  nothing  but  teeter  up  and 
teeter  down  in  these  'ere  rocking  cheers." 

She  often  warned  her  pupils  against  boastfulness,  and  the 
assumption  of  social  preeminence,  relating  to  them  an  incident 
that  occurred  during  the  first  years  of  the  seminary.  One  of  the 
students  came  to  Miss  Lyon  with  the  request  that  she  might  at 
her  own  expense  have  eggs  every  day  with  her  breakfast.  She 
stated  that  her  father  was  a  rich  man  and  she  missed  the  home 
luxuries,  and  added  that  her  constitution  was  too  delicate  to 
thrive  upon  warm  griddle  cakes  with  butter  and  molasses, — 
which  was  then  the  usual  morning  meal.  After  some  discussion 
the  desired  permission  was  given.  A  few  weeks  later,  happening 
to  be  in  the  town  which  was  the  birthplace  of  the  young  lady  in 
question,  and  having  an  hour  at  her  own  disposal,  she  called 
upon  the  parents  and  found  them  living  in  a  small,  three-roomed, 
one-story  house,  with  little  furniture,  and  neither  carpet  nor 
rug,  save  two  or  three  mats  braided  from  strips  of  old  cloth. 
She  learned  that  the  daughter  had  been  out  at  service  two  years, 
earning  the  money  to  carry  her  through  a  year  at  the  seminary, 
and  to  provide  the  showy  gowns  in  which  she  delighted  to  ap- 
pear. The  mother  invited  her  to  stay  for  dinner,  saying  frankly 
that  roasted  potatoes  and  bread  was  all  that  she  could  offer  her. 
Miss  Lyon  declined,  as  she  had  brought  a  lunch  from  home,  and 
her  concluding  remark  in  repeating  this  incident  was,  ''Young 
ladies,  you  can  each  draw  your  own  moral." 

One  of  the  most  striking  features  of  the  new  institution  was 
the  unity  of  purpose  and  the  sincere  friendship  that  existed  be- 
tween the  school  and  the  town's  people.  If  Saturday  night 
brought  a  drifting  snowstorm,  so  that  by  Sunday  morning  the 
seminary  yard  would  look  like  a  prison  enclosure,  the  pupils 
well  knew  that  volunteers,  headed  by  Byron  Smith  and  John 
Dwight,  would  appear,  each  carrying  a  shovel,  and  a  broad  path 
would  soon  be  cleared  from  their  very  threshold  to  the  door  of 
the  church. 

Sometimes  in  summer,  the  pupils,  while  taking  the  long 
walks,  which  formed  a  part  of  each  day's  duty,  paused  to  cast  a 
longing  glance  at  the  trees  laden  with  cherries,  peaches  or  pears, 


FEOM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  89 

that  were  at  this  time  abundant  in  South  Hadley.  If  this  were 
noticed  by  the  owner,  they  were  sure  of  a  cordial  invitation  to 
come  into  the  orchard  and  help  themselves  to  the  luscious  fruit, 
nor  were  they  ever  allowed  to  return  to  the  seminary  empty 
handed. 

If  a  teacher,  wearied  by  the  week's  routine,  went  calling  in 
the  village  on  Wednesday  afternoon,  she  was  certain  of  an  invi- 
tation to  stay  to  tea,  which  meant  that  a  most  bountiful  repast 
was  in  store  for  her,  and  often  a  little  package  of  caraway 
cookies  would  be  slipped  into  her  hand  at  parting.  It  was  the 
custom  among  the  leading  families  of  the  town  to  invite  all  Miss 
Lyon's  teachers  to  a  substantial  meal  at  least  once  in  every 
year,  and  these  outings  did  much  to  strengthen  the  friendly 
relations  between  them. 

The  hospitality,  however,  was  not  all  on  one  side.  On  a 
Sabbath  morning  the  pastor  would  give  out  notice  from  the 
pulpit  that  all  members  of  the  congregation  who  were  more  than 
fourteen  years  of  age  were  invited  to  the  seminary  on  Tuesday 
evening.  At  the  time  appointed  the  guests  were  received  at  the 
front  door  with  words  of  welcome  and  were  ushered  into  the 
stately  and  solemn  north  parlor.  After  a  season  of  social  con- 
verse, the  company  adjourned  to  the  seminary  hall  and  were 
entertained  with  music  and  calisthenics.  Eefreshments  were 
served,  sometimes  consisting  of  raised  biscuits  and  butter, 
cherry  preserves,  loaf-cake  and  tea. 

At  half  past  nine  the  minister  read  a  chapter  from  the  Bible, 
one  or  more  hymns  were  sung,  and  after  the  closing  prayer  the 
people  of  the  town  went  home. 

Sometimes  the  youngest  classes  in  the  Sabbath  School  were 
invited  to  spend  Wednesday  afternoon  at  the  seminary,  and  the 
pupils  entertained  them  so  beautifully  that  the  children,  when 
they  went  home,  felt  as  if  they  had  been  on  a  trip  to  fairy  land. 

On  the  last  Sabbath  before  the  graduation  exercises,  notice 
was  given  at  church  of  the  public  examinations  on  Tuesday  and 
Wednesday,  at  which  all  the  parish  from  twelve  years  of  age 
upward  were  invited  to  be  present.  Between  the  recitations 
were  interludes  filled  with  music  and  compositions.    The  latter 


90  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

were  always  interesting.  There  was  one  on  "The  Moral  Effect 
of  Bad  Bread,"  whose  author  became  a  famous  Boston  teacher. 
Another  was  entitled,  "Minus  a  Garret,"  and  depicted,  in  a 
witty  manner,  the  trials  of  a  family  who  moved  into  a  house  with 
a  roof  which  gave  no  attic  room  for  the  storing  of  trunks,  etc. 

One  of  the  seniors,  three  years  after  the  founding  of  the 
seminary,  wrote  a  farewell  poem  to  her  classmates,  a  few  lines 
of  which  will  be  quoted  below: 

t 
Down,  down  to  the  tomb  of  the  buried  years. 
That  are  shrined  in  song,  that  are  veiled  in  tears, 
Down,  down  with  a  soft  and  a  stealthy  tread. 
Behold  how  the  hastening  months  have  sped. 
And  there  cometh  a  hand  on  the  wall  to  trace, 
'They  are  numbered  and  finished,  thy  dearest  days, 
But  far  o  'er  the  earth  though  your  steps  may  roam, 

Not  a  lovelier  spot  shall  memory  claim. 

And  your  bosoms  shall  thrill  at  Holyoke's  name.' 

We  are  parting  now,  for  a  godlike  race. 

Let  the  arm  untwine  from  its  last  embrace,  * 

Be  our  course  right  on  as  the  eagles  fly, 

Right  on  to  a  glorious  destiny. 

Give  the  farewell  kiss,  and  the  trembling  hand. 

For  we  part  but  to  meet  in  a  holier  land." 

Not  only  spiritually  and  intellectually  was  Mary  Lyon 's  life 
an  inspiration  to  those  about  her,  but  in  the  home  circle  her 
tender,  sympathetic  nature  drew  all  hearts  toward  her.  Once 
she  saw  a  pupil  standing  lonely  and  sad  beside  the  window,  and 
said  to  her,  "I  think  you  want  to  see  your  mother."  The  girl 
answered,  "I  have  no  mother."  Upon  hearing  this  Miss  Lyon 
put  her  arms  around  her  and  said,  tenderly,  "I  will  be  a  mother 
to  you.  Come  to  me  any  time  you  would  go  to  her,  if  she  were 
here. ' ' 

In  describing  her  we  might  well  misquote  Emerson ;  one  can 
teach  simply  by  doing,  and  to  Mary  Lyon  it  was  given  to  do  that 


FROM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  91 

which  would  have  been  impossible  to  any  other  woman  of  her 
time. 

''As  chief  commander,  few  her  peers;  none  better  knew  to 
choose  her  aids.  Here  lies  the  secret  of  a  grand  and  useful  life." 

The  weeks  that  followed  the  death  of  Mary  Lyon  were  a 
season  of  deep  anxiety  to  the  friends  of  the  institution.  None 
of  the  teachers  desired  to  assume  the  position  of  principal. 
Finally,  Miss  Whitman,  who  had  been  associated  with  Miss 
Lyon  for  years,  consented  to  take  charge  of  the  school  for  a 
time,  but  resigned  before  her  marriage,  which  occurred  in  1851. 
The  position  of  acting  principal  was  then  given  to  Miss  Mary  "W. 
Chapin,  and  the  ensuing  two  years  were  perhaps  the  most  criti- 
cal period  in  the  history  of  the  seminary.  Some  of  the  pupils 
who  had  never  known  Miss  Lyon  desired  to  abate  the  former 
strictness  of  the  rules,  and  believed  that  the  new  regime  could 
be  brought  to  accept  their  views.  Two  of  them  tried  to  incite 
an  open  revolt  against  certain  wise  and  prudent  regulations. 
The  ringleaders  were,  strange  to  say,  daughters  of  a  clergyman 
of  considerable  note.  It  was  now  that  the  full  value  of  an  able 
and  discreet  counsellor  became  evident.  Eev.  Eoswell  Hawks, 
and  family,  resided  within  the  building,  and  his  services  had 
been  of  inestimable  worth  to  Mary  Lyon  from  the  first  inception 
of  her  plans.  The  record  states  that  "Mr.  Hawks  was  enlisted 
in  the  cause  as  permanent  agent  as  early  as  1834.  From  town  to 
town  and  from  house  to  house  in  western  Massachusetts  he  pre- 
sented its  claims  with  such  clearness,  good  sense,  and  patient 
persistence,  as  to  win  people  who  had  never  before  thought  of 
doing  anything  for  female  education.  Always  devoted  to  the 
interests  of  the  institution,  he  was  president  of  its  board  of 
trustees  for  many  years." 

He  was  a  great  favorite  among  the  pupils,  who  always 
spoke  of  him  as  *'Pa  Hawks,"  and  invariably  treated  him  with 
affectionate  respect.  He  now  called  a  meeting  of  the  trustees, 
who  promptly  and  unanimously  voted  that  Miss  Chapin  should 
have  their  unqualified  support.  Several  of  the  pupils  were  ex- 
pelled, and  others  suspended,  but  Mr.  Hawks  managed  matters 
with  so  much  firmness,  tact,  and  gentleness,  that  the  incipient 


92  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

rebellion  was  crushed,  and  Miss  Chapin  continued  to  preside 
over  the  seminary  for  fourteen  years,  both  honored  and  beloved 
by  teachers  and  students. 

After  the  foregoing  episode  it  was  the  custom,  in  case  any 
new  pupil  showed  a  continuous  spirit  of  insubordination,  to 
suggest  to  her  that  she  "Stay  out  a  year  and  mature."  Such 
absences  rarely  failed  of  their  object. 

Early  in  1888  application  was  made  to  the  legislature  for  a 
change  in  the  name  of  the  institution.  As  ''Mount  Holyoke 
Seminary  and  College"  it  would  share  with  other  such  schools 
the  power  of  conferring  degrees.  On  March  12,  the  day  of  the 
great  blizzard,  this  request  was  granted,  but  it  took  forty-eight 
hours  for  the  good  news  to  force  its  way  through  the  snowdrifts 
in  order  to  reach  South  Hadley. 

The  standard  of  scholarship  for  the  entrance  examinations 
was,  during  the  next  few  years,  raised  to  such  an  extent  that 
on  January  31,  1893,  the  legislature  voted  to  drop  the  word 
' '  Seminary, ' '  leaving  the  school  a  college. 

Concerning  this  change,  Miss  Elizabeth  Prentiss,  a  teacher 
from  1866  to  1904,  thus  writes : 

''A  new  Mount  Holyoke  has  gradually  arisen  on  the  founda- 
tions of  the  old.  Fears  that  innovations  may  mar  or  diminish 
the  precious  legacy  which  the  present  holds  in  trust,  have  given 
place  to  that  wise  liberalism  which,  while  preserving  the  best 
of  the  past,  does  not  fear  to  take  possession  of  the  present  and 
develop  the  larger  and  fuller  life  demanded  by  larger  oppor- 
tunities and  responsibilities." 

The  following  tribute  to  Miss  Lyon  is  taken  from  a  poem 
written  by  the  late  Mr.  Andrew  Judd,  of  South  Hadley : 

The  mountain  halos  here  are  cast. 
The  nearer  hills  play  loose  and  fast. 
Now,  clad  afresh,  the  trees  appear 
Marking  the  spring-time  of  the  year ; 
"Warmed  with  its  breath  the  embryo  leaves 
Spin  the  deft  web  the  summer  weaves. 


FROM  DAME  SCHOOL  TO  COLLEGE  93 

Yon  Campus  holds  a  lowly  mound, 
Humble  the  shaft  that  marks  the  ground 
Whereon  its  stands ;  whose  grassy  spears 
Spring  at  the  beck  of  watering  tears 
From  those  who  felt  the  charm  and  grace 
That  mirrored  her  immortal  face. 
When  hath  there  been  sublimer  thought, 
In  crucial  test,  more  fitly  wrought, 
In  unison  with  heart  and  brain, 
Uttered  in  sweeter  human  strain 
Than  wakened  by  this  pioneer. 
This  avant-courier,  whose  career 
Thrilled  with  its  throbbing  pulse  of  steel 
The  world 's  best  thought  for  highest  weal  ? 

She  blazed  a  path  untrod  before ; 

*     *     *     * 

Out  from  the  Book  of  books  she  wove 
Her  woof  of  life,  to  web  of  love ; 
How  grateful  now  the  thought  appears 
That  on  the  circling  round  of  years 
Comes  centering  to  our  good  old  town 
So  much  that  adds  to  its  renown. 


CHAPTER    SIX 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF  A  CHUBCH 

PROGtRESS  in  civilization  was,  in  the  opinion  of  our  fore- 
fathers, measured  by  the  improvement  in  church  archi- 
tecture. The  rough,  box-like  structures,  which  the  early- 
colonists  dignified  by  the  name  of  "meeting-houses,"  were  often 
but  little  more  than  log  cabins  covered  within  by  a  coat  of 
coarse  mortar. 

South  Hadley  Center  has  had  five  successive  church  build- 
ings, only  the  first  and  last  of  which  still  remain.  One,  now 
used  as  a  dwelling,  stands  just  west  of  Judson  Hall,  the  other 
being  the  present  Congregational  Church. 

One  hundred  and  eighty  years  ago  on  Sunday  mornings,  in 
summer,  the  young  people  of  the  South  Precinct  might  have  been 
seen  threading  the  woodland  path  that  skirted  the  base  of  Mount 
Holyoke,  on  their  way  to  the  mother  church  in  Old  Hadley. 
They  were  barefooted  (for  in  those  days  shoes  were  far  too 
costly  to  be  worn  during  the  sixteen-mile  tramp  to  and  from 
church).  When  the  bridge  at  Fort  River  was  reached  the  whole 
procession  halted,  and,  sitting  upon  the  bank,  laved  their  dusty 
feet  in  the  cool  water ;  then  putting  on  their  shoes  and  stockings 
they  proceeded  decorously  to  the  quaint,  old  building  on  Meeting 
House  Hill,  prepared  to  listen  to  the  prolonged  discourses  of 
the  Rev.  Isaac  Chauncey. 

The  settlers  of  Moody  Corner  were  so  thrifty  that  they  wore 
their  ordinary  working  clothes  to  and  from  Fort  River,  exchang- 
ing upon  its  wooded  sides  the  old  suit  for  the  Sunday  best,  and 
replacing  them  on  their  return. 

If  one  considers  the  unremitting  toil  of  the  early  colonists 
when,  as  the  old  people  used  to  say,  knitting  stockings  and  chop- 
ping wood  were  their  only  recreations,  it  will  not  seem  strange 
that  ere  long  the  task  of  walking  to  and  from  church  proved 
irksome,  and  in  November,  1727,  we  find  them  petitioning  the 
General  Court,  at  Boston,  that  they  might  be  made  into  a  sepa- 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  A  CHURCH  95 

rate  precinct,  which  would  entitle  them  to  the  privilege  of  hav- 
ing a  meeting  house  and  minister  of  their  own.  This  the  court 
was  willing  to  grant,  provided  that  at  the  expiration  of  two  years 
they  should  have  forty  families  and  during  the  following  year 
should  settle  a  ** learned  and  orthodox  minister." 

The  first  thing  to  be  done  was  to  agree  upon  a  site  for  the 
new  meeting  house.  The  spot  chosen  being,  as  was  the  custom 
of  that  day,  a  slight  elevation  commanding  a  partial  view  of  the 
surrounding  country,  which  in  case  of  war  might,  perhaps,  warn 
of  Indian  approach.  Their  shrewd  avoidance  of  forest  fires  was 
shown  by  placing  the  building  near  the  center  of  a  sandy  field 
covered  with  low  huckleberry  bushes.  This  field  included  the 
present  common  of  South  Hadley  Center. 

The  new  meeting  house  was  a  plain,  unpretentious,  one- 
roomed  structure,  forty  feet  long  and  thirty  feet  wide. 

In  1733  they  had  already  made  choice  of  a  minister.  Grind- 
all  Rawson  had  been  a  restless,  impetuous  youth,  to  whom  the 
religious  restraints  of  that  age  were  almost  unbearable.  The 
Puritan  Sabbath  was  a  long  day  for  the  boy,  and  it  is  said  that 
one  Sunday  afternoon,  as  a  special  privilege,  he  was  allowed  to 
sit  in  the  orchard  for  an  hour  while  he  committed  to  memory  a 
chapter  from  the  Bible ;  at  the  expiration  of  that  time  the  Book 
lay  upon  the  ground  unopened  and  the  lad  was  found  wholly 
absorbed  in  a  mimic  battle  between  insects,  which  he  had  caught 
and  forced  to  fight. 

Before  he  had  entered  upon  his  teens,  the  wise  and  tender 
care  of  his  father  was  withdrawn  by  the  stern  hand  of  Death, 
and  he  found  a  temporary  home  in  the  house  of  Judge  Sewall, 
and  a  congenial  playmate  in  the  person  of  the  judge's  grandson, 
Sam  Hirst. 

The  laws  of  the  commonwealth  had  long  ago  decreed  that 
whenever  a  minister  was  settled  a  house  should  be  provided  for 
him,  and  the  young  and  already  overburdened  community  were 
now  asked  to  build  a  parsonage.  The  erection  of  a  meeting 
house  had  already  taxed  their  energies  to  the  utmost.  Trees 
eighty  feet  high  had  been  felled  in  order  to  '4iugh"  out  the 
massive  beams  which  are  still  a  wonder  to  those  who  see  them. 


96  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

Such  buildings  were  usually  framed  upon  the  ground  and 
the  raising  of  their  heavy  timbers  was  by  no  means  an  easy 
task.  It  sometimes  required  the  services  of  sixty  picked  men 
for  a  week  or  more  before  the  framework  would  stand  in  its 
proper  position.  This  work  was  voluntary  and  unpaid  for,  and 
those  men  who  lived  at  a  distance  of  four  or  five  miles  found  it 
difficult  to  be  present  at  the  early  hour  set  for  commencing  labor. 
Their  horses  could  not  pace  rapidly  the  narrow,  winding  cart 
tracks,  and  pacing  was  at  that  time  considered  the  natural  gait 
of  a  horse;  trotting  not  coming  into  favor  till  several  decades 
later. 

The  location  of  the  minister's  dwelling  had  already  been 
provided  for  in  the  land  grant  of  1720.  It  was  to  stand  upon  the 
west  side  of  the  present  Woodbridge  street,  and  the  old  parson- 
age still  exists  as  the  rear  ell  of  the  house  now  occupied  by  the 
Misses  Eastman.  Its  hand-made  nails  with  their  rough,  irregu- 
lar tops,  and  its  carefully-prepared  clapboards  testify  to  the  skill 
and  patient  industry  that  were  required  for  its  construction. 

On  March  30,  1733,  a  committee  had  been  appointed  "to 
order  and  proportion  each  man's  labor,  as  near  as  may  be  con- 
venient, about  Mr.  Rawson's  house."  This  date  is  of  interest 
as  being  that  of  the  first  town  meeting  of  which  South  Hadley 
has  preserved  a  record. 

The  living  room  of  the  new  parsonage  was  of  ample  pro- 
portions. Extending  half-way  across  the  western  end  was  a 
wide  fireplace  and  an  old-fashioned  brick  oven  for  the  Satur- 
day baking.  In  the  northwest  corner  of  the  room  was  a  deep 
well  with  its  old,  oaken  bucket. 

As  the  summer  waned,  the  people  became  impatient  of  their 
long  walk  to  the  Hadley  church,  and  in  spite  of  the  unfinished 
state  of  their  meeting  house,  it  was  voted  that  the  ordination 
of  Rev.  Grindall  Rawson  should  take  place  on  October  3,  1733. 

The  preparatory  fast  day,  which  always  preceded  the  set- 
tlement of  a  new  minister,  was  observed,  and  a  committee  was 
then  appointed  to  take  charge  of  the  dinner  and  to  send  for  the 
neighboring  "Ministers  and  Messengers." 

In  the  main,  an  ordination  dinner  was  in  those  times  a  joy- 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  A  CHURCH  97 

ous  and,  in  many  cases,  even  a  hilarious  occasion.  After  the 
solemn  consecration  of  the  candidate,  by  the  laying  on  of  hands 
and  the  other  attendant  religious  ceremonies,  had  been  duly 
performed,  then  clergy,  as  well  as  laity,  gave  themselves  up  to 
the  enjoyment  of  social  festivities.  To  "provide  suitably"  meant 
at  that  time  to  have  the  punch  well  brewed,  the  flip  iron  heated 
and  the  toddy  stick  prepared  for  frequent  use. 

There  may  or  may  not  have  been  spiced  wine  at  this  South 
Hadley  feast,  but  of  a  certainty  there  was  an  abundance  of  both 
cider  and  rum.  No  one  but  a  deacon  or  a  man  of  equal  piety 
and  probity  was  permitted  to  sell  spirituous  liquors,  and  his 
duty  allowed  him  to  deal  it  out  simply  to  "cheer  and  not  in- 
ebriate." Another  qualification  was  also  demanded  of  the 
vendor,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  licenses  issued  by  our  town  offi- 
cials. He  must  be,  they  state,  not  only  a  man  of  sound  judgment, 
who  could  tell  at  a  glance  how  much  spirit  a  customer  could 
bear,  but  he  must  also  be  a  connoisseur  whose  cultured  taste 
could  select  the  delicate  jorum  "fit  to  be  offered  to  ministers." 

Doubtless  the  tables  groaned  beneath  the  weight  of  edibles 
that  filled  the  pewter  platters  on  that  memorable  third  of  Octo  • 
ber.  There  would  be,  first  of  all,  according  to  the  custom,  a  rich 
plum  pudding;  for  dessert  preceded  the  course  of  meats  a  cen- 
tury and  a  half  ago.  Then  one  looks  for  wild  turkey,  from  the 
side  of  Mt.  Holyoke,  baked  in  a  big  Dutch  oven  before  the  fire- 
place and  redolent  of  sage  and  other  savory  herbs.  It  was  prob- 
ably flanked  by  roasts  of  beef  and  pork,  a  leg  of  lamb  and  a 
venison  pasty. 

There  were  no  potatoes  to  grace  the  festal  board,  turnips 
being  used  as  a  substitute,  but  it  may  be  that  they  were  enabled 
to  offer  their  favorite  apple  and  gooseberry  tarts,  for  history 
tells  us  that  the  first  settlers  in  Connecticut  had  with  wise  fore- 
thought brought  apple  seeds  with  them  from  England.  Our 
ancestors  had  profited  by  their  example,  and  they,  in  turn,  had 
taken  apple  seeds  from  Connecticut,  and  already  there  was  one 
flourishing  orchard  in  South  Hadley. 

Some  of  our  old  inhabitants  possessed  spinits,  a  kind  of 
circular  gridiron  with  a  rotary  motion.    Upon  this  useful  uten- 


98  IN"  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

sil  delicious  salmon,  fresh  from  the  river,  were  wont  to  be 
broiled  over  the  bed  of  coals. 

Of  the  after-dinner  speeches  no  record  remains,  but  doubt- 
less amusing  stories  were  rehearsed;  stories  that  have  ever 
since  gone  echoing  down  the  halls  of  time. 

But  soon  the  chill  winds  of  November,  the  early  snows  of 
December  and  the  tempestuous  storms  of  January  must  have 
made  a  rather  dreary  outlook  for  the  new  preacher.  The  town 
had  voted  the  preceding  March  to  ceil  and  plaster  the  meeting 
house  and  to  provide  joists  for  the  gallery,  but  this  had  not  been 
done.  The  pulpit  was  simply  a  plain,  wooden  desk,  behind  which 
the  preacher  stood  on  these  wintry  days  muffled  in  his  great 
coat  and  with  his  hands  incased  in  gloves  or  mittens  to  keep 
them  from  freezing. 

There  was  no  artificial  heat  in  the  meeting  house,  the  iron 
boxes,  known  by  the  name  of  stoves,  being  then  unheard  and  un- 
thought  of.  The  little  footstoves  made  of  perforated  tin,  in- 
closing an  iron  pan  which  contained  a  handful  of  coals  buried 
in  ashes,  were  just  coming  into  use  in  the  larger  towns,  but 
were  probably  unknown  in  South  Hadley. 

Sometimes  the  roar  of  the  wind  rushing  through  the  gap 
between  Mt.  Tom  and  Mt.  Holyoke  must  have  almost  drowned 
the  voice  of  the  speaker,  whose  welcome  ''tenthly"  gave  notice 
that  the  sermon  was  nearing  its  close. 

In  1734  came  the  crucial  test  of  the  church  harmony — the 
seating  of  the  meeting  house.  The  committee  were  directed  to 
seat  the  congregation  according  to  ratable  estate,  having  due 
regard  to  age  and  ability.  To  adjust  matters  on  this  delicate 
scale  often  sowed  seeds  of  dissension  and  bitterness  that  bore 
fruit  for  years  afterward,  but  the  present  committee  appear  to 
have  used  rare  tact,  good  judgment  and  care,  for  there  was  no 
public  dissatisfaction  recorded,  as  was  the  case  upon  similar 
occasions  later  on. 

The  first  few  years  of  the  Rawson  ministry  were  quiet  and 
uneventful,  but  in  1737  trouble  arose  in  the  church.  It  may  be 
that  some  family  eccentricities  now  became  apparent.  It  was 
said  of  his  cousin,  the  other  Rev.  Grindall  Rawson,  that  hear- 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  A  CHURCH  99 

ing  lie  had  been  made  a  subject  of  ridicule  by  certain  members 
of  his  congregation  he  preached  from  the  text  "I  Was  the 
Song  of  the  Drunkard,"  and  the  sermon  was  such  a  stinging 
one  that  at  its  close  hardly  a  person  was  left  in  the  house. 

The  first  complaint  against  Mr.  Rawson,  brought  by  the 
South  Hadley  church,  would  seem  a  very  trivial  pretext  upon 
which  to  hold  a  council  of  ministers.  He  was  accused  of  having 
traded  horses  with  someone  outside  the  town.  Perhaps  his 
native  shrewdness  enabled  him  to  get  the  best  of  the  bargain 
and  complaint  was  made  of  conduct  "unbecoming  a  minister." 

At  all  events,  a  council,  of  which  Rev.  Johnathan  Edwards, 
of  Northampton,  was  a  member,  was  called.  After  hearing  the 
evidence  on  both  sides,  the  council  voted  that  Grindall  Rawson 
was  ''Learned,  orthodox  and  moral,"  and  as  these  were  the 
three  essentials  required  by  law  the  incident  was  considered 
closed.  It  proved,  however,  to  be  the  entering  wedge  whereby 
later  dissensions  crept  into  the  church. 

It  should,  perhaps,  be  added  by  way  of  explanation  that 
although  at  that  period  the  towns  in  this  region  yielded  an  out- 
ward show  of  reverence  to  their  ministers,  yet  they  often  inter- 
fered in  personal  matters  to  a  degree  that  would  be  deemed 
intolerable  at  the  present  day. 

Thus,  in  the  unpublished  diary  of  a  minister,  who  was  set- 
tled in  an  adjoining  town  and  who  had  some  financial  trouble 
with  a  parishioner  to  whom  he  had  loaned  money,  we  read  such 
entries  as  the  following: 

May  28,  went  to  Walter  Fairfield's  and  bought  his  cattle. 
Gave  him  up  a  note  that  I  had  against  him  and  I  am  to  give 
him  more,  if  Johnathan  Bardwell  and  John  Cowls  say  that  I 
must." 

This  the  two  men  did  say  a  few  days  later.  Afterward 
meeting  one  of  his  congregation,  who  had  absented  himself  from 
church  in  order  to  go  hunting,  the  pastor  said  to  him,  severely, 
''Phelps,  you  have  not  been  at  meeting  for  three  Sabbaths.  If 
you  continue  in  your  present  course  remember  that  very  soon 
you  will  be  in  hell  and  there  will  be  no    preaching  there." 


100  IN"  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

"B-b-but,  p-p-p-parson, "  stuttered  his  parishioner,  ''it  w- won't 
be  for  the  1-lack  of  m-m-ministers. ' ' 

It  may  be  that  this  trouble  with  the  church  deepened  Mr. 
Rawson's  desire  for  sympathy  and  companionship,  for  in  the 
succeeding  May  we  find  preparations  for  a  wedding  going  on  in 
the  house  of  the  Hadley  minister.  Rev.  Isaac  Chauncey,  whose 
daughter,  Dorothy,  was  the  promised  bride  of  our  pastor.  He 
had  meekly  followed  the  tradition  of  the  fathers,  for  there  was 
in  this  section  a  general  expectation  that  the  younger  divines 
would  marry  the  daughters  of  other  ministers.  There  was  so 
much  clannishness  among  the  members  of  this  profession  in  the 
early  days  that  it  even  led  them  to  propose  that  none  but  minis- 
ters should  be  eligible  as  deputies  to  the  General  Court,  but  this 
law  failed  of  enactment. 

There  being  no  divinity  schools  at  that  time,  students  were 
obliged  to  study  theology  in  the  homes  of  older  ministers,  where 
they  learned  to  be  orthodox,  and  perhaps  fell  in  love  with  one 
of  the  pretty  daughters  of  the  household.  If  there  were  none, 
the  elder  man  usually  gave  to  the  younger  at  the  close  of  his 
novitiate  a  letter  of  introduction  to  some  other  minister  who 
had  marriageable  daughters,  and  under  the  transparent  pre- 
text of  reviewing  his  theology  the  wooing  was  accomplished. 

Some  of  the  elderly  people  of  South  Hadley  still  recall  an 
amusing  instance  of  this  kind  which  hajDpened  to  a  reverend 
ancestor  of  their  family. 

The  pastor  and  his  wife  had  been  invited  out  to  supper,  and 
when  a  young  minister  appeared  with  his  letter  of  introduction 
the  three  daughters  with  their  little  brother  were  obliged  to  do 
the  honors  of  the  house.  The  youthful  minister  had  a  very  prom- 
inent nose  and  at  the  table  the  youngest  daughter,  intending  to 
ask  him  to  pass  the  cheese,  said,  unconsciously,  ""Will  you  please 
pass  me  your  nose  I"  then,  noticing  her  mistake,  she  blushed 
and  said  hastily,  "I  mean  the  cheese."  He  gravely  handed  the 
dish  with  no  remark  and  nothing  in  his  face  betrayed  his  having 
heard  the  first  question.  On  the  morning  of  his  departure  two 
weeks  later,  her  mother  having  sent  her  into  the  garden  on  an 
errand,  the  j^oung  man  presently  followed  her  and  said,  in  an 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  A  CHURCH  101 

earnest  voice,  "On  the  day  of  my  arrival  you  asked  me  to  pass 
you  my  nose ;  will  you  permit  me  to  offer  with  it  my  hand  and  my 
heart?"    And  the  wedding  occurred  shortly  after. 

A  minister's  wedding  in  Hampshire  county  was  at  this  time 
considered  an  affair  of  importance.  The  first  thing  to  be  done 
was  to  hold  a  town  meeting  in  order  to  vote  money  for  defraying 
the  expenses  of  the  entertainment. 

If  the  laws  of  etiquette  which  the  county  demanded  upon 
such  occasions  were  obeyed,  then  a  delegation  of  his  parishioners 
would  accompany  Mr.  Rawson  to  Hockanum,  where  a  party  from 
Hadley  would  meet  them  and  all  proceed  together  to  the  home 
of  the  bride.  The  marriage  ceremony  was  usually  performed 
**in  the  edge  of  the  evening."  On  the  following  morning  the 
party  from  South  Hadley,  increased  by  a  score  or  more  of  the 
friends  of  the  bride,  would  return  home.  The  fair  Mistress  Dor- 
othy riding,  according  to  custom,  on  a  pillion  behind  one  of  the 
deacons,  perhaps  in  this  case  Ebenezer  Moody,  as  he  was  one 
of  the  bridegroom's  most  intimate  friends.  At  Hockanum  they 
were  probably  met  by  a  large  company  from  our  town  who  es- 
corted them  back  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Rawson,  where  fun  and 
feasting  reigned  until  late  in  the  evening.  On  the  following  day 
the  festivities  were  usually  renewed  so  that  those  of  the  con- 
gregation who  could  only  leave  home  in  turn  might  also  share  in 
the  joyous  occasion. 

Hardly  had  the  wedding  bells  ceased  their  melody  when  a 
new  difficulty  arose  in  the  church.  Eighty  years  had  elapsed 
since  the  first  settlers  of  Hadley  emigrated  from  Connecticut 
in  order  to  escape  the  Half-way  Covenant,  and  now  the  ab- 
horred doctrine  had  followed  and  overtaken  them  in  their  new 
home.  Championed  by  Rev.  Solomon  Stoddard,  of  North- 
ampton, it  had  already  become  a  prevailing  article  of  belief  in 
Western  Massachusetts,  and  a  majority  of  the  South  Hadley 
church  members  were  ready  to  accept  it  as  a  tenet  of  their  faith. 

Then,  too,  the  old  superstition  that  the  souls  of  infants 
djdng  unbaptized  would  be  lost  wakened  into  new  life  during 
this  century,  and  our  ministers  baptized  the  children  of  their 
parishioners  upon  the  very  day  of  their  birth  or  within  a  few 


103  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

days  after  that  event.  Many  non-church  members  desired  this 
sacrament  for  their  children,  deeming  it  consistent  with  the 
teachings  of  Scripture. 

But  not  so  the  Rev.  Grindall  Rawson.  His  determined  will, 
firm  even  to  stubborness,  opposed  itself  to  this  innovation  and 
a  strong  minority  of  the  church  upheld  him.  This  party  in- 
cluded many  of  his  kindred  and  intimate  friends.  Among  them 
was  Chileab  Smith,  Third,  the  great-grandfather  of  Mary  Lyon, 
a  man  of  dominant  will  and  unflinching  purpose,  as  beseemed  her 
ancestor.  Her  intense  loyalty  to  whatever  she  believed  to  be 
right,  her  unswerving  honesty  and  truthfulness,  and  her  high 
courage  that  could  not  brook  defeat,  all  seemed  a  heritage  from 
her  brave  old  forefather. 

Aside  from  the  personal  interest  of  the  narrative,  the  story 
of  his  life  is  well  worth  the  telling  simply  for  the  light  it  sheds 
upon  the  customs  and  manners  of  the  day.  His  journal  tells 
us  that  at  the  age  of  seventeen  he  was  "Pricked  to  the  heart, 
indeed,  by  the  words  of  a  dying  young  man. ' '  The  words  were 
these:  "Forever,  forever,  what  not  one  drop  of  water?  forever, 
forever."  These  words  being  often  repeated  by  him  alarmed 
me  to  the  purpose.  Before  this  I  used  to  be  frequently  with 
vain  company  but  now  I  forsook  them."  This  finally  resulted 
in  his  conversion  and  later  on  he  united  with  the  South  Hadley 
church. 

Meanwhile  three  brothers  named  Clark,  two  of  whom  were 
Baptists,  had  settled  in  the  eastern  part  of  South  Hadley.  James 
Smith,  brother  of  Chileab,  who  lived  near  them,  was  soon  con- 
verted to  their  faith  and  Chileab  also  adopted  the  same  Baptist 
belief. 

This  doughty  warrior  was  generally  victorious,  as  witness 
the  following  entry  in  his  journal. 

' '  Simeon  Harvey,  of  Deerfield,  slandered  me  and  at  last  got 
to  that  pass  that  he  threatened  to  take  club-law,  and  then 
bragged  that  I  was  afraid  to  come  to  Deerfield,  'For,'  says  he^ 
there  are  men  here  that  will  riddle  him  till  they  can  see  through 
him  as  through  a  riddle.'  "  (A  riddle  was  a  kind  of  coarse 
sieve  in  use  at  that  day.) 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  A  CHURCH  103 

But  Simeon  Harvey  thus  retracted  his  unkind  speeches: 

''January  28,  1772.  I,  Samuel  Harvey,  rashly  and  in  a  pas- 
sion from  time  to  time  charged  the  said  Smith  unjustly,  for 
which  I  am  heartily  sorry  and  ask  his  forgiveness,  and  all  other 
peoples  who  heard  me.  Witness  my  hand — Simeon  Harvey.  I 
also  promise  to  set  up  this  paper  on  the  door  of  my  house  to 
stand  one  month. 

"Jonathan  Wells  In  behalf  of 

* '  Samuel  Montague  the  church. ' ' 

In  1732  Chileab  had  married  Sarah,  the  daughter  of  Deacon 
Ebenezer  Moody,  and  as  a  part  of  her  dowry  received  a  certain 
tract  of  land  situated  in  South  Hadley,  about  a  mile  north  of 
the  church.  It  included  a  small  elevation  which  has  since  always 
been  known  as  Chileab 's  Hill,  and  was  once  a  favorite  Mecca  of 
the  student  girls  in  the  earlier  days  of  Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary. 
Here  he  built  himself  a  house  which  still  remains  as  part  of  the 
dwelling  of  H.  C.  Talbot. 

After  the  departure  of  Rev.  Grrindall  Rawson,  Chileab 
Smith,  Third,  went  before  the  association  and  testified  that  "the 
South  Hadley  church  was  dead  in  trespasses  and  sin,  and 
though  they  would  not  refuse  to  receive  a  converted  person,  yet 
never  the  sooner  for  his  being  converted,  so  that  if  a  person  is 
never  no  better  than  is  required  to  be  a  member  of  their  church 
he  must  perish  eternally." 

Alienated  from  the  South  Hadley  church  by  their  treatment 
of  Mr.  Rawson  and  himself,  he  afterward  removed  to  Ashfield, 
where  only  two  settlers  had  preceded  him.  There  he  built  a 
house  and  planted  an  orchard. 

As  the  colony  increased  in  numbers,  he  began  to  hold  divine 
service  at  his  own  house  on  the  Sabbath.  After  the  breaking 
out  of  tlie  French  and  Indian  War,  finding  that  white  men  had 
been  massacred  or  taken  prisoners  but  a  few  miles  away,  the 
whole  settlement  migrated  to  the  other  towns.  Three  years  later 
they  returned  to  their  own  homes,  and  a  stockade  was  erected 
which  enclosed  Chileab  Smith's  house,  and  was  built  mostly  at 
his  own  expense.  It  was  composed  of  logs  fifteen  feet  long,  of 
sufficient  size  to  be  bullet  proof.    These  were  placed  side  by  side, 


104  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

having  three  feet  sunken  in  the  ground  and  twelve  feet  above  the 
surface.  This  fort  was  nearly  one-hundred  and  fifty  feet  square 
and  had  but  one  door  of  entrance,  which  was  barricaded  every 
night.  Upon  the  roof  of  the  house  was  a  watch  tower  capable 
of  containing  six  armed  men.  To  this  fort  at  night  came  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  village  that  they  might  sleep  in  safety. 

When  the  Ashfield  church  learned  of  Chileab's  Baptist  pro- 
clivities they  dropped  his  name  from  their  list  of  members. 
Afterwards  he  refused  to  pay  "rates"  toward  the  support  of  the 
minister.  Church  and  town  were  at  that  time  so  closely  con- 
nected that  in  consequence  of  this  non-payment  of  rates  the 
authorities  sold  at  auction  for  thirty-five  shillings  his  dwelling 
house,  orchard,  family  burying  ground,  and  twenty  acres  of 
land ;  and  others  of  a  like  persuasion  met  with  a  similar  fate. 

Now,  Chileab  was  not  a  man  to  be  daunted  even  though  his 
neighbors,  apparently  forgetting  the  generous  shelter  and  pro- 
tection that  he  had  formerly  afforded  them,  came  in  a  body  to 
mob  him.  They  dug  up  his  young  apple  trees  and  carried  them 
away,  but  this  was  too  much  for  the  proud  spirit  of  Deacon 
Moody's  daughter,  and  tradition  says  that  Mrs.  Chileab  went 
out  with  a  shovel  in  her  hand  which  she  used  with  such  good  effect 
that  presently  the  mob  dispersed,  bearing,  however,  in  triumph 
the  young  fruit  trees,  which  were  transplanted  with  such  care 
that  to  this  day  the  chance  visitor  in  that  vicinity  may  still  have 
pointed  out  to  him  the  famous  ''Baptist  Apple  Trees." 

But  this  was  not  to  be  the  end  of  the  matter.  Chileab  Smith 
determined  to  recover  his  property.  Back  and  forth,  to  and 
from  Boston  he  went,  through  forests  whose  only  aisle  was  a 
narrow  bridle  path,  and  wearisome  journeys  they  were.  All  the 
Baptists  in  the  state  took  up  the  matter  and  the  uncertain  Gene- 
ral Court  knew  not  what  to  do.  Finally,  at  the  suggestion  of 
Governor  Hutchinson,  the  matter  was  referred  to  Royalty. 

King  George,  the  Third,  in  council,  decreed  that  the  land 
should  be  restored  to  its  original  owners,  and  Chileab,  with 
those  of  his  thirteen  children  who  then  survived,  were  reinstated 
in  their  rights. 

He  was  married  several  times,  his  last  wedding  occurring 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  A  CHUECH  105 

when  he  was  more  than  ninety  years  of  age.  Mary  Lyon,  we  are 
told,  was  present  upon  this  occasion,  as  was  also  his  son  and 
namesake,  Chileab,  who  was  destined  to  become  a  centenarian, 
living  until  the  success  of  Mount  Holyoke  Seminary  was  an  ac- 
complished fact. 

Returning  to  the  history  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Rawson,  we  find 
him  up  to  1740  treated  with  an  outward  show  of  respect.  Each 
year  his  salary  was  voted  and  a  day  set  on  which  to  carry  him 
wood.  The  seaters  had  been  directed  to  make  room  for  Madam 
Rawson  in  the  meeting  house,  and  when  she  and  her  husband 
entered  the  whole  congregation  rose  and  stood  in  silence  until 
the  two  were  seated. 

The  precinct  had  been  very  liberal  with  him  in  the  matter 
of  settlement.  Besides  the  Home  Lot,  he  had  been  given  wood- 
land, meadow  and  pasture,  while  the  General  Court  had  granted 
him  a  tract  of  land  in  the  eastern  part  of  Granby;  the  whole 
aggregating  over  three  hundred  and  seventy  acres.  The  large 
maple  tree,  still  standing  in  front  of  the  old  parsonage,  a  little 
to  the  southeast,  and  the  twin  maple  which  formerly  stood  a 
little  north  of  it,  probably  dated  back  to  the  time  of  our  first 
minister,  and  indicated  his  love  of  nature. 

In  1740,  the  Half  Way  Covenant  had  so  leavened  the 
churches  of  Hampshire  County  (which  at  this  time  included  also 
those  of  Hampden  and  Franklin)  that  the  records  state  that 
not  a  single  church,  and  only  one  minister,  upheld  Jonathan 
Edwards  in  his  protest  against  this  very  liberal  theology.  Yet 
the  clearer  vision  of  to-day  approves  the  simple  creed  for  which 
Mr.  Rawson  fought.  Let  us,  therefore,  bear  in  mind  that  he  was 
in  the  right  to  such  a  degree  that  Protestantism  has  returned  to 
his  views,  deeming  them  both  Scriptural  and  proper. 

On  February  25,  1740,  at  a  meeting  held  in  South  Hadley, 
it  was  voted  that ' '  It  is  the  desire  of  this  precinct  that  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Rawson  be  dismissed  from  and  lay  down  the  work  of  the 
ministry  among  us."  Mr.  Rawson  took  no  notice  of  this  request. 
On  January  12,  of  the  succeeding  year,  they  voted  that  they 
would  give  him  neither  wood  nor  salary.    Mr.  Rawson  insisted 


106  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLF.Y 

that  until  the  town  should  settle  its  past  indebtedness  to  him  he 
was  still  legally  their  pastor  and  should  continue  to  preach. 

A  committee  had  been  appointed  to  keep  the  keys  of  the 
meeting  house,  it  was  not  to  be  opened  or  shut  except  ''Accord- 
ing to  their  prudence."  A  minister  not  far  away  had  been 
locked  out  by  his  parishioners,  for  the  manners  of  that  day  were 
rude.  Upon  this  the  parson  shouldered  his  axe  and  broke  down 
the  door,  then  mounting  the  pulpit  in  triumph  he  preached  a 
vigorous  sermon.  Perhaps  the  committee  people  suspected  that 
the  present  incumbent  might  be  tempted  to  do  the  same  thing, 
as  indeed  he  was  quite  likely  to. 

Finally,  on  October  30,  1741,  their  last  shred  of  patience 
gave  way.  A  committee  of  fifteen  were  ordered,  in  more  explicit 
language,  in  case  he  again  attempted  to  preach,  "To  put  him 
forth  from  the  meeting  house.*'  To  this  threat,  which  had  been 
so  often  repeated,  he  paid  no  attention. 

The  committee  met,  thirteen  of  them  agreeing  that  now  they 
would  obey  instructions,  only  two  dissenting.  Some  of  the  elders 
proposed  to  delegate  their  sons  to  perform  the  task  that  had 
been  assigned  them. 

One  Sabbath  morning  later  on,  Mr.  Rawson  appeared  in 
church.  When  he  had  ascended  the  pulpit  stairs,  one  of  the 
deacons  rose  and  solemnly  warned  him  against  attempting  to 
officiate.  Mr.  Rawson 's  reply  was  simply  to  begin  reading  one 
of  the  Imprecatory  Psalms,  or,  as  another  version  of  the  story 
has  it,  commencing  a  long  prayer.  A  number  of  men  now 
advanced,  and,  taking  him  from  the  pulpit,  either  carried  or 
dragged  him  from  the  church.  Tradition  tells  us  that  he  con- 
tinued the  prayer  or  psalm  until  a  handkerchief  was  placed 
across  his  mouth. 

This  was  Mr.  Rawson 's  last  attempt  to  enter  the  pulpit. 
It  was  expected  that  he  would  cause  the  arrest  of  the  young  men 
who  had  forcibly  removed  him  from  the  meeting  house,  and  ten 
pounds  were  raised  to  be  used  in  their  defense.  He  refrained 
from  taking  the  matter  into  court,  but,  none  the  less,  refused  to 
resign  his  pastorate. 

The  precinct  had  previously  voted  that  thej^  would  pay  him 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  A  CHURCH  107 

up  to  November  20, 1740,  "but  not  after  that."  As  lie  would  not 
accept  this  overture,  they  extended  the  time  until  May  of  1741, 
when  the  council  had  advised  a  separation.  Finding  him  still 
obdurate,  some  peace-loving  members  of  the  community  gave 
him  their  personal  bonds  for  the  payment  of  one  hundred  pounds 
if  he  would  resign  his  pastoral  office,  which  he  did,  and  in  1742 
the  precinct  repaid  them. 

Many  of  Mr.  Kawson's  friends  had  become  so  much  embit- 
tered against  the  church  that  they  removed  to  other  towns.  The 
discarded  minister  did  not  find  it  easy  to  secure  another  settle- 
ment. When  pastors  were  engaged  for  life  there  were  but  few 
empty  pulpits ;  he  must  wait  until  a  new  church  was  formed  and 
a  new  building  erected  in  some  thinly  populated  district. 

Three  years  passed  and  still  he  remained  here.  Then  the 
people  of  Hadlyme,  Conn.,  hired  him  to  preach  there  for  three 
months.  At  the  expiration  of  the  time  they  engaged  him  for 
three  months  more  on  probation.  In  May,  1745,  they  invited  him 
to  become  their  minister,  taking  the  Cambridge  Platform  as  the 
basis  of  belief. 

There  had  been  dissension  among  the  people  of  Hadlyme 
in  regard  to  the  new  church,  but  now  they  all  united  upon  Mr. 
Rawson,  and  under  his  guidance  they  enjoyed  a  long  season  of 
'* satisfaction  and  rest."  At  his  death,  in  1777,  the  faithful  con- 
gregation erected  a  tombstone  at  their  own  expense. 

After  the  resignation  of  their  minister,  the  South  Precinct 
were  not  long  in  finding  a  successor.  About  two  hundred  years 
before  this.  Rev.  John  Woodbridge,  a  clergyman  of  Wiltshire, 
England,  had  named  a  son  after  himself  and  educated  him  for 
the  ministry.  This  practice  had  been  continued  from  generation 
to  generation,  until  now  South  Hadley's  second  minister  was  the 
ninth  Rev.  John  Woodbridge  in  unbroken  succession.  His  ances- 
tral pride  may  have  been  gratified  by  the  fact  that  his  father  was 
a  grandson  of  Thomas,  the  Earl  of  Dudley,  while  his  mother  was 
a  granddaughter  of  John  Eliot,  the  ''Apostle  to  the  Indians." 
He,  himself,  had  married  the  daughter  of  a  well-known  minister, 
and  of  his  social  supremacy  there  can  be  no  doubt.    Unlike  his 


108  IN   OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

predecessor,  he  was  dignified  in  bearing,  prudent  in  council,  and 
full  of  gentleness  and  sympathy  toward  all  who  were  in  sorrow. 

During  the  greater  part  of  his  pastorate,  Mr.  Rawson  had 
refused,  or  at  least  neglected,  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  Min- 
isters'  Association,  but  Mr.  Woodbridge  soon  became  one  of  its 
most  valued  members.  He  was  considered  to  be  a  man  of  such 
sound  judgment  that  people  came  from  far  and  near  to  consult 
him.  A  young  divine,  living  nearly  a  dozen  miles  from  here, 
was  falsely  accused  of  having  stolen  a  silver  watch,  and  was 
summoned  to  appear  at  the  next  session  of  the  court  in  order  to 
answer  to  the  charge.    Several  witnesses,  or,  as  they  were  then 

called,  evidences,  said  they  would  testify  that  Mr.  F had 

entered  the  watchmaker 's  shop  on  the  afternoon  of  the  day  when 
the  watch  was  first  missed.  In  his  trouble  and  perplexity  he 
came  to  Rev.  Mr.  Woodbridge  for  counsel.  ''Go  home  and  take 
up  your  work,"  said  the  latter,  **and  pay  no  attention  to  the 
matter.  When  the  day  of  the  trial  comes  God  can  plead  your 
cause."  This  suggestion  was  followed,  and  the  real  culprit,  "a 
cotfee-colored  negro,"  lulled  into  a  feeling  of  security,  incau- 
tiously revealed  the  fact  that  he,  himself,  was  in  the  shop  on 
the  evening  of  the  day  in  question.  When  the  case  was  called  in 
court,  the  defendant  was  promptly  acquitted  and  the  negro 
arrested.  Taken  by  surprise,  the  latter  confessed  his  guilt  and 
made  restitution.  The  young  preacher  entered  in  his  journal 
(for  in  those  days  it  was  the  fashion  for  ministers  to  keep  a 
diary),  ''I  bless  God  that  I  followed  Mr.  Woodbridge 's  advice." 

April  21,  1742,  was  fixed  upon  as  the  date  of  the  new  minis- 
ter's ordination.  In  the  joy  attendant  upon  his  settlement,  it 
was  determined  to  make  the  dinner  ''An  occasion."  The  pre- 
cinct had  raised  ten  pounds  to  be  used  in  defense  of  the  young 
men  who  took  Mr.  Rawson  from  the  pulpit.  This  money,  they 
now  voted,  should  be  used  for  the  dinner;  "as  far  as  it  will  go" 
was  considerately  added."  ^ 

Por  more  than  twenty  years  almonds  and  raisins,  China 
oranges,  and  spiced  wine  had  adorned  the  tables  of  Boston's 
elite,  and  who  can  say  but  that  some  ambitious  member  of  the 
committee  may  have  ordered  them  now;  for  the  Smiths  as  a 


REV.   JOHN  WOODBRIDGE 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  A  CHUECH  109 

class  were  wealthy,  and  singularly  enongh  the  five  men  ap- 
pointed to  ' 'pursue  and  accomplish  what  has  been  agreed  on" 
in  the  matter  of  Mr.  Woodbridge  's  settlement  each  answered  to 
that  surname.  They  were  Deacon  John  Smith,  Corporal  Jolm 
Smith,  Jonathan  Smith,  Lieutenant  Chileab  Smith  (not  the  an- 
cestor of  Mary  Lyon),  and  William  Smith. 

For  the  past  two  months  the  people  had  been  working  busily 
on  the  new  parsonage.  They  had  learned  wisdom  since  locat- 
ing their  first  one.  It  could  not  have  been  a  pleasant  experi- 
ence for  Rev.  Grindall  Rawson  to  walk  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
through  pelting  rains  and  drifting  snows,  in  a  town  where 
umbrellas  had  never  been  heard  of,  and  then  to  stand  for  two 
hours  in  a  cold,  damp  church,  his  wet  garments  clinging  about 
him.  If,  however,  owing  to  the  severity  of  the  storm  and  the 
intensity  of  the  cold,  only  seven  worshipers  were  present,  then 
the  minister  had  permission  to  take  his  small  audience  home 
with  him,  and  in  the  big  living  room  preach  the  sermon  he  had 
previously  prepared. 

In  consideration  of  these  facts,  they  now  placed  their  par- 
sonage within  a  few  rods  of  the  meeting  house,  upon  the  east 
side  of  the  street.  The  main  part  of  the  house,  with  its  four 
large  rooms  and  pulpit  window,  was  probably  not  finished  until 
several  years  later.  In  front  of  the  old  Dunlap  house  (our 
second  parsonage)  was  placed  a  row  of  young  poplars,  this 
being,  at  that  time,  considered  as  the  distinctive  mark  of  a  min- 
ister's residence. 

A  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  preceded  the  ordination  of 
Mr.  Woodbridge  (the  term  *  installation"  not  having  yet  come 
into  vogue),  and  his  settlement  was  followed  by  a  special  serv- 
ice, when  the  congregation  met  to  thank  God  for  having  given 
them  so  good  a  minister. 

The  precinct  had  agreed  to  give  Mr.  Woodbridge  fifty 
loads  of  wood,  and  a  date  was  set  for  its  delivery.  Wood  Day 
was  indeed  a  great  day  in  South  Hadley.  Busy  hands  were 
at  work  in  the  parsonage  long  before  sun-up ;  there  were  eggs  to 
be  beaten  and  flour  sifted,  butter  and  milk  to  be  placed  ready 
at  hand,  and  apples  to  be  pared. 


110  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

Then,  too,  the  big  oven  beside  the  chimney  must  be  pre- 
pared for  use.  This  had  been  built  with  three  courses  of  bricks 
lying  side  by  side,  this  thickness  of  the  wall  being  necessary  in 
order  to  absorb  and  retain  sufficient  heat  for  the  baking.  There 
was  an  opening  into  the  chimney  for  the  escape  of  smoke,  which 
was  called  the  up-take  or  draft,  and  could  be  closed  by  means 
of  a  piece  of  wrought  iron  attached  to  a  long  rod.  The  oven 
was  nearly  filled  with  long,  slender  sticks  of  dry  wood  which 
had  been  cut  for  this  purpose,  and  a  fire  was  kindled  beneath 
them.  When  this  had  become  a  bed  of  coals,  both  the  up-take 
and  iron  door  of  the  oven  were  closed  in  order  that  the  bricks 
might  become  thoroughly  heated.  A  little  later  the  coals  and 
ashes  were  removed;  then  Madam  Woodbridge  advanced  with 
arm  bared  to  the  elbow,  and  putting  her  hand  into  the  oven  as 
far  as  she  could  reach,  counted  up  to  thirty.  If  the  heat  were 
too  great  for  her  to  bear,  then  the  oven  must  be  cooled  before 
using.  Later  on  another  method  came  into  use  here.  Flour 
was  sprinkled  upon  the  floor  of  the  oven,  and  the  expert  house- 
wife could  judge  of  the  heat  by  the  quickness  with  which  it 
browned. 

A  flat  shovel  with  a  long  handle,  called  a  slice,  was  now 
well  floured,  and  from  this  loaves  of  wheat  and  of  rye  bread 
were  deftly  slipped  to  the  farther  end  of  the  oven.  At  this  era 
there  were  no  bread  pans,  and  when  these  useful  articles  did  ap- 
pear, about  1800,  they  were  simply  round,  flat  disks  of  tin,  with- 
out sides. 

It  was  customary  m  such  families  as  the  Woodbridge 's  to 
scatter  oak  leaves  upon  the  floor  of  the  oven,  and  while  the 
mother  was  busy  it  was  considered  a  nice  plan  to  get  the  chil- 
dren out  of  the  way  by  sending  them  leafing,  as  it  was  called. 

Next  after  the  bread  came  pandowdies,  Indian  puddings 
and  loaf  cake,  followed  by  apple,  mince  and  pumpkin  pies,  the 
remaining  space  being  filled  with  ginger  snaps  and  cookies. 
While  they  baked  in  quiet  seclusion,  the  kettle  of  hissing  fat 
that  hung  from  the  crane  tossed  and  turned  the  golden  brown 
nutcakes.     Kindly  neighbors,  too,  were  bringing  in  provisions, 


THE  EVOLmOX  OF  A  CHCBCH  111 

while  meantime  the  sturdy  farmer  =  ~-.zh       :  -i^*  *ji^e 

wood  and  piling  it  np  neatly,  ready  for  use. 

The  quality  of  the  wood  given  to  a  minister  was  said  to  be 
a  sure  test  of  his  popnlarity.  That  brought  by  ti=  friends  was 
certain  to  be  straight  and  sotmd.  wiiile  those  less  kindly  dis- 
posed toward  bim  would  sometimes  bring  sticiis  ::La:  —err 
crooked  and  fnll  of  knots. 

After  the  wo<  "  '  "  ^--z  -:  ^  -  -  n  -  i:  -n^i  :: 
the  honse,  and  tLr  :  _;  -  _--  ~  -  ^  ^i-  :  :  —  rrj 
tongues  and  lond-voiced  lan^ter.  ^vTirH  :i-e  feast  was  spread, 
the  beef,  pork  and  mntton  roastei  l  ^  spit,  bdng  z-i^z^i  z- 
dishes  of  cider-apple  sanee  az "  7  se,  with,  ^^^\  zip. 

toddy  and  eggnogg  everywhere.  ~_  :  -z  — ^r^  'z-?  xv^t'^l 
hnsking  bees  and  apple  parings  >::  :_t  7  zz^:  z-.-z.-  zl  ::zi- 
parison  with  the  joys  of  Wood  Day? 

There  was  anotzer  s.zzz=l  apporntmez:  5  zir— zz:  .r=s 
jovial  than  this:  it  was  Ei-  7  .~.  It  had  'r-z  "--  v  -  1 
certain  part  of  Mr.  TToc-dci-z^::  s  salary — =  _      —  —  .  _- 

sometimes  a  quarter — shonld  be  paid  in  wheat,  ^z  i-m.  rye 

and  tlav-  There  were  no  com  bams  at  tzs.:  rzzr.  szli  :zr  ze> 
pie  were  expected  to  carry  their  graiz  z  ■  _-  —  t-ItTtI 
chamber  over  the  kitchen,  or  into  iz^  sj^i-rr  z^— .:  :---:. 
above  the  main  honse.    It  was  now  that  a  man's  r»^  : 

was  made  manifest.    Tzr  ZTZrr:z5  :r:z^z:  .zr^r  z_  r    izi 

of  their  best :  the  stingy  and  avaricious  iiS<'i  '  - 
ity  for  this  '^zr-  —  zd  gave  scanty  weight.  ,'^  _  :_ 
ever,  they  ^dr  .--  -."A.  A  minister  of  the  ec'Tiz:^  rr 
his  diary:  "I  d  .z:  7  taking  szir  z-n  'r^zr.  Capt.  C.  s^z:  zrre 
this  day.  I  tzzik  I  acted  zz  :z  z-.  \  zz  z  \z  :  -zstio^.  I  desire 
that  the  Captain  may  be  kept  ::7z_  ..z  '.      zirvS^Ed," 

In  174?    -i:^  ^fizg  the  z^  z^.   it  -rz:z   ^-^'izr  :zr 

meeting  he z—   .  '  ittee  w—  .z:r  .  :    z.^t    _  z.-t  ;:  '.-- 

matter. 

The  size  of  the  congregation  had  increased  as  new  settlers 
joined  the  commnnity.  and  additional  seats  had  be«i  made  in 
the  gallery,  some  of  these  being  built  from  tiie  poMic  fnnds^  oth- 
ers at  the  expense  of  private  individuals.  At  the  meeung   ;z 


112  IX  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

March  14  it  was  generously  voted  that  "those  persons  which 
have  built  pews  in  the  gallery  have  liberty  to  sit  in  them  during 
the  pleasure  of  the  precinct." 

Since  the  men  who  had  been  chosen  to  seat  the  meeting 
house  could  not  have  the  arrogance  to  assign  themselves  the 
highest  places,  and  did  not  wish  to  sit  for  three  years  in  the 
lowest  ones,  a  second  committee  was  appointed  whose  duty  it 
was  to  seat  the  seaters. 

William  Montague,  who  lived  in  what  is  now  Granby  Cen- 
ter, was  pretty  sure  to  be  on  one  or  the  other  of  the  two  boards, 
and  he  was  given  a  place  in  the  highest  rank  on  the  men's  side. 
His  wife  sat  with  Madam  TToodbridge.  in  the  Great  Pew,  next 
the  pulpit.  The  Widow  Kellogg,  who  six  years  later  became  his 
second  wife,  had  her  choice  between  the  foreseat  and  the  third. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  Deacon  John  Smith,  whose  father  had 
died  after  a  lingering  illness  which  was  supposed  to  have  been 
brought  upon  him  by  the  potent  spell  of  a  malevolent  witch.  She 
was  treated  with  distinction,  for  during  her  eight  years  of 
widowhood  she  was  supposed  to  look  after  the  sick  in  a  general 
way.  Trained  nurses  were  not  to  be  had.  and  a  serious  case  of 
illness  was  a  neighborhood  affair.  The  younger  women  were 
expected  to  go  as  "watchers"  at  night,  while  the  older  ones 
carried  in  food  for  the  family  and  sat  by  the  bedside  of  the 
patieut  by  day.  If  the  sickness  proved  fatal,  two  persons  were 
detailed  "to  sit  up  all  night  with  the  corpse,"  and  this  cus- 
tom was  kept  up  in  South  Hadley  until  the  middle  of  the  last 
century. 

In  the  pew  by  the  east  door  sat  Deacon  John  Smith  and  his 
wife,  also  their  next  neighbors  on  Cold  Hill,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Luke 
Montague. 

The  Xorthampton  Church,  five  years  before,  had  positively 
forbidden  any  intermingling  of  the  sexes  in  seating  the  meet- 
ing house,  and  Deacon  Smith  2d  and  Luke  Montague  were  now 
the  only  men  who  ventured  to  sit  with  their  families  on  the 
woman's  side  of  the  house.  But  public  opinion  followed  their 
lead,  and  twenty  years  later  the  separation  of  the  sexes  in  our 
church  was  abandoned. 


THE  EVOLUTIOX  OF  A  CHUECH  113 

In  1743  there  devolved  upon  another  John  Smith  the  most 
difficult  and  perplexing  duty  that  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  deacon's 
office.  It  is  thus  stated  in  the  town  records:  '"Voted  that 
Deacon  John  Smith  1st  acquaint  people  where  to  sit  in  the 
meeting  house. ' '  This  affair  of  ' '  seating  the  meeting  house ' '  in 
most  towns  gave  rise  to  much  bitter  wrangling  and  many  neigh- 
borhood quarrels. 

It  was  performed  by  a  committee  whose  instructions  in 
South  Hadley  at  this  time  were:  "To  have  regard  to  age,  estate 
and  quaUfications. "  That  the  old  people  should  sit  near  the 
pulpit  in  order  to  hear  well,  all  were  agreed,  but  when  it  came 
by  placing  the  men  of  wealth  in  the  high  seats  and  the  poorer 
brethren  away  back  by  the  door — that  was  quite  another  mat- 
ter. Then,  too,  in  regard  to  "Qualifications,"  who  should  say 
whether  or  not  the  Hillyers,  with  their  great  strength  and  skill 
in  boating,  were  superior  to  Xat  "Ooodale,  who  lured  the  wild 
turkeys  from  Mt.  Holyoke  down  to  the  very  home  lots  of  the 
settlers  with  his  wonderful  bird  calls  ?  Then,  too,  military  titles 
entailed  fresh  complications,  for  the  families  of  the  officers  were 
even  more  tenacious  of  their  rank  than  were  the  officers  them- 
selves. 

They  used  to  tell  of  one  old  woman  who  was  continually 
repeating  that  her  son  had  been  in  the  army.  "He  was  either  a 
genny-rill  or  a  corpo-rill,  I  can  never  remember  which,  but  it 
was  some  kind  of  a  'rill,'  "  she  reiterated. 

There  was  some  kind  of  a  rill  in  a  good  many  families. 
Thus :  In  seating  the  John  Smiths,  of  whom  we  had  five.  Ser- 
geant John's  wife  must  have  a  higher  place  than  the  wife  of 
Corporal  John,  and  plain  John  Smith  must  go  still  lower. 
Deacon  John  Smith  1st  sat,  of  coui'se,  in  front  of  the  pulpit. 

Once  in  every  three  years  a  new  allotment  of  seats  was 
made,  and  it  was  his  duty  for  three  successive  Sabbaths  to  read 
the  list  aloud  at  the  close  of  the  morning  ser^-ice.  If  on  the 
fourth  Sabbath  the  congregation  did  not  take  the  seats  that  had 
been  assigned  them  it  was  his  duty  to  reprove  them. 

In  case  any  malcontent  still  refused  to  sit  in  his  appointed 
place,  the  custom  of  other  towns  was  to  have  the  errins:  brother 


114  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

fined  by  the  court;  but  our  shrewd  and  kindly  deacons  simply 
ordered  the  tithing  men  (of  whom  we  had  three)  to  conduct 
the  offender  to  the  Pouting  Pew,  and  if,  during  the  ensuing  week 
the  children  in  the  streets  called  after  him,  ''There  goes  Pout- 
ing Thomas,"  or  John,  or  Eichard,  or  Samuel,  as  the  case 
might  be,  there  were  none  to  say  them  nay. 

Our  number  of  deacons  in  active  service  was  limited  to  two, 
as  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  administered  in  a 
different  way  from  our  present  system.  The  communicants 
ranged  themselves  in  a  procession,  and  going  up  one  aisle 
passed  in  front  of  the  deacons'  pew.  One  of  the  latter  handed 
them  the  bread,  the  other  the  wine.  They  then  returned  to 
their  seats  by  another  aisle,  leaving,  at  least  once  a  year,  a  con- 
tribution of  twelve  and  one-half  cents  each  upon  the  deacon's 
table  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  communion  service. 

Deacon  Silas  Smith  and  Deacon  Enoch  White  both  died  in 
1813,  and  two  years  later  we  find  that  Deacon  Selah  Smith  and 
Deacon  Levi  Judd  had  left  the  pew  under  the  pulpit  and  sat,  ex- 
cept on  Sacramental  occasions,  with  the  congregation. 

When  the  church  was  remodeled  in  1825,  the  deacon's  pew 
was  removed  and  modern  methods  were  then  adopted  at  our 
communion  services. 

In  1760  the  population  had  increased  to  such  an  extent 
that  the  necessity  for  a  larger  meeting  house  was  believed  to 
be  imperative.  The  dwellers  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  town — 
now  Granby — naturally  expected  that  the  new  building  would 
be  placed,  as  they  said,  near  the  center  of  travel,  and  they  sug- 
gested that  it  should  be  located  on  Cold  Hill,  a  few  rods  north- 
east of  the  DeWitt  homestead.  This  proposal  was  rejected,  and 
a  bitter  contest  ensued,  which  finally  ended  in  the  erection  of 
two  houses  of  worship,  and  a  division  of  the  town. 

In  1761  South  Hadley  began  building  a  meeting  house  upon 
nearly  the  same  site  as  that  of  the  present  church.  A  party  of 
men  from  the  eastern  precinct  carried  off  one  night  several  of 
the  huge  posts  intended  for  use  in  the  framework,  and  hid  them 
in  the  Pichawamiche  Swamp.  The  story  that  some  of  the 
Granby  women  seated  themselves  upon  these  timbers  and  sang 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  A  CHURCH  115 

songs  of  triumph  is  said  to  be  untrue,  but  one  thing  is  certain, 
they  composed  upon  this  occasion  verses  that  were  handed  down 
for  over  a  century.  The  rhjTning  mania,  so  often  prevalent  in 
this  section,  sometimes  proved  an  excellent  safety  valve. 

The  old  folks  used  to  tell  how  a  certain  man  accused  the  tax 
collector  of  having  cheated  him,  and  was  preparing  to  take 
summary  vengeance.  One  of  the  deacons  sought  to  dissuade  him 
in  calm  and  persuasive  tones.  The  aggrieved  taxpayer  replied 
in  the  vernacular  of  that  day: 

"No  man  on  this  'arth 
Can  let  down  my  wrath 
Like  you." 

Upon  this  the  deacon  advised  his  companion  to  write  the  collec- 
tor a  letter  in  rhyme.  The  man  consented,  but  before  the  poem 
was  finished  his  anger  had  subsided,  and  the  matter  was  ad- 
justed to  the  satisfaction  of  both  parties. 

This  second  church  was  probably  a  fair  t>T)e  of  the  archi- 
tectural fashion  of  that  day.  The  building  was  sixty  feet  in 
length  and  forty-five  in  width,  and  there  were  three  doors  of 
entrance,  two  of  which  were  eventually  closed  up.  The  pews 
were  for  the  most  part  seven  feet  long  and  six  feet  wide.  Hard, 
uncushioned  seats  ran  round  three  sides  of  these  generous  en- 
closures, and  in  the  center  was  an  open  space  where  the  children 
could  sit  on  their  little  footstools  and  crickets,  and  in  summer- 
time beguile  the  long  hours  by  eating  dill  and  caraway,  or, 
better  still,  fennel,  which  grew  in  wild  luxuriance  in  one  cor- 
ner of  Mr.  Woodbridge's  garden.  The  wooden  seats  of  the  eld 
ers  were  hinged,  and  could  be  dropped  down  while  the  congre- 
gation were  standing,  allowing  the  old  people  to  rest  themselves 
by  leaning  against  the  high-backed  pews.  This  could  be  done 
quietly,  but  mischievous  hojs  sometimes  tried  to  shorten  the 
exercises  by  rattling  the  seats. 

From  a  journal  of  a  much-tried  pastor  living  in  this  region, 
we  glean  the  following: 

"October  10th.  After  the  first  prayer,  in  the  pew  in  which 
the  young  men  sat,  the  seats  made  a  terrible  rattling,  beyond 


116  m  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

what  I  should  have  thought  possible.  After  the  blessing  was 
IDronounced  C.  Clark  spoke  and  said  that  such  rattling  was 
contrary  to  all  order  and  a  violation  of  the  Sabbath,  and  he 
thought  I  ought  to  reprove  them.  I  replied  to  him :  '  I  am  sensi- 
ble that  this  is  indeed  a  violation  of  the  Sabbath,  and  contrary 
to  the  gospel  rule  and  order,  but  you  know  what  Solomon  says 
will  be  the  fate  of  him  who  reproves  a  scorner.  I  have  reproved 
them,  but  they  will  not  forbear.  I  have  done.'  I  went  out  of 
the  pulpit.  Mr.  Clark  said  that  he  thought  that  all  who  feared 
God  (or  words  to  that  purpose)  ought  to  bear  testimony  against 
such  practices,  and  that  if  the  faithful  would  stand  by  him  he 
would  prosecute  or  drive  it  to  the  end  of  the  law.  I  told  him  I 
would  bear  testimony  against  it  in  all  proper  ways.  I  went  out 
of  the  meeting  house,  saw  Sergeant  B.,  and  said  to  him:  'Ser- 
geant B.,  I  wonder  that  you  would  let  or  allow  your  son  to  be 
among  them.'  He  said:  *I  don't  know  that  he  is  one  of  them.' 
I  replied,  'It  is  time  for  you  to  know  whether  he  is  one  of  them 
or  not.  I  have  heard  that  he  has  said  that  you  never  forbid 
his  rattling  the  seats.  I  would  have  you  take  care  that  you  be 
not  guilty  of  the  sin  of  Eli. '    The  seats  rattled  P.M." 

The  pulpit  stood  on  the  east  side  of  the  meeting  house ;  in 
front  of  it  an  aisle  six  feet  in  width,  leading  to  the  principal  en- 
trance at  the  west  door,  afforded  ample  room  for  the  catechizing 
of  children  during  the  Sunday  service.  This  broad  aisle  was 
also  supposed  to  add  dignity  to  the  office  of  minister,  since  all 
conversation  must  cease,  even  in  the  slightest  whisper,  at  the 
moment  Rev.  Mr.  Woodbridge  appeared.  After  the  belfry  tower 
was  added,  about  1792,  the  town  gave  a  new  mark  of  their  ap- 
preciation to  Rev.  Joel  Hayes,  who  was  then  its  pastor.  It  was 
the  rule  that  the  bell  should  begin  to  ring  fifteen  minutes  before 
the  commencement  of  divine  service.  But  someone  was  ap- 
pointed to  watch  the  house  of  Mr.  Hayes,  and  inform  the  bell 
ringer  the  moment  the  minister  and  his  family  started  for  the 
church.  Notice  of  this  event  was  communicated  by  an  immedi- 
ate change  from  the  ringing  to  the  tolling  of  the  bell.  This 
sound  recalled  the  congregation,  who  in  summertime  often 
loitered  about  the  common,  but  were  expected  to  be  in  their 


llff^" 


T 


THE  EVOLUTIO?^  OF  A  CHURCH  117 

proper  places  when  the  minister  entered.  After  Mr.  Hayes  had 
ascended  the  pulpit  stairs  and  disposed  of  his  hat,  he  turned  and 
bowed  to  the  people,  which  was  the  customary  signal  that  they 
were  at  liberty  to  seat  themselves. 

The  steep  and  narrow  stairway  which  led  into  the  pulpit 
had  a  railing  on  the  side  and  at  the  top  a  latticed  gate  whereby 
the  minister  could  shut  out  all  intruders.  The  corresponding 
floor  space  upon  the  other  side  of  the  pulpit  was  occupied  by  a 
pew  intended  for  widows,  and  may  have  been  built  in  after  the 
Revolutionary  War.  There  being  no  vestibule,  the  one  stair- 
case leading  to  the  gallery  was  placed  in  the  southwest  corner. 
Next  it  on  the  east  stood  a  most  undesirable  pew,  partly  under 
the  stairs.  Some  inventive  mind  suggested  that  this  be  named 
the  Pouting  Pew,  and  be  used  as  a  place  of  exile  for  unruly  and 
violent  members  of  the  congregation.  The  proposal  was  re- 
ceived with  favor,  and  the  plan  of  the  church  in  1815  still  re- 
tained this  unique  title. 

In  1791  Colonel  Woodbridge  presented  the  church  with  a 
bell,  and  later  a  tower  was  added  to  the  meeting  house  upon  its 
northern  side.  The  old  sounding  board  was  utilized,  it  is  said, 
by  becoming  a  part  of  the  second  story  of  the  belfry  tower.  A 
red  satin  curtain,  also  the  gift  of  Colonel  Woodbridge,  was  hung 
behind  the  pulpit,  making  a  cheerful  background  for  the  min- 
ister. About  1826  the  house  was  remodeled,  and  "slips"  were 
substituted  for  the  old-fashioned  pews.  The  high  pulpit  was 
moved  to  the  north  side,  and  the  west  door  was  replaced  by  a 
window.  Twelve  years  later,  the  increasing  number  of  sem- 
inary girls  led  to  the  erection  of  more  seats  in  the  unoccupied 
floor  space  at  the  rear  of  the  house. 

The  front  of  a  venerable  Baptist  church  in  Providence, 
Rhode  Island,  bore  for  many  years  this  inscription:  "Built  for 
the  worship  of  God,  and  to  hold  commencements  in."  Mary 
Lyon  did  not  read  this  motto  above  the  entrance  to  the  South 
Hadley  meeting  house.  She  desired  to  have  the  graduating  ex- 
ercises of  her  first  senior  class  take  place  in  the  seminary  hall. 
This  seemed  to  her  the  most  fitting  plan.  The  trustees  did  not 
agree  with  her,  and  she  finally  yielded  to  their  wishes.     The 


\ 

118  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

first  ''Anniversary  Day"  was  celebrated  in  the  chnrcli,  wliich 
was  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity.  The  wisdom  of  this  ar- 
rangement was  soon  evident.  Many  of  the  donors  to  this  new 
enterprise  witnessed  its  success  with  a  feeling  of  gratified  pride. 
For  seven  years  all  members  of  the  seminary  were  given  free 
sittings  in  our  church,  but  their  numbers  increased  to  such  an 
extent  that  in  1844  the  parish  was  compelled  to  erect  a  new 
edifice.  The  seminary  trustees  contributed  three  thousand  dol- 
lars towards  the  cost  of  the  building,  and  until  it  was  destroj-ed 
by  fire  in  1875,  the  school  enjoyed  the  free  use  of  every  third  pew 
all  over  the  church,  and  were  not  asked  to  pay  any  part  of  the 
minister's  salary  or  other  expenses,  unless  they  used  extra 
sittings. 

Miss  Lyon  showed  her  gratitude  for  this  generosity  by  pre- 
senting the  church  with  a  large  Bible,  suitable  for  the  pulpit. 
This  was  saved  from  two  fires  by  the  personal  daring  of  men 
who  entered  the  burning  churches  and  rescued  what  is  now  a 
precious  relic  of  the  past.  Many  an  able  and  vigorous  sermon 
has  been  preached  to  us  upon  texts  read  aloud  from  this  Bible, 
and  in  olden  times  the  text  of  the  sermon  held  a  far  more  im- 
portant place  than  at  present.  Some  pastors  even  required 
their  congregations  to  rise  and  stand  while  it  was  being  read. 
The  minister  knew  as  he  looked  at  his  congregation  that  on 
Monday  morning  every  pupil  in  our  schools  would  be  asked  to 
repeat  the  text  and  as  much  of  the  sermon  as  he  could  remember, 
and  woe  to  the  child  who  had  forgotten  it,  or  misbehaved  at 
church.  The  practice  of  repeating  the  text  and  the  heads  of  the 
sermon  was  kept  up  in  female  seminaries  till  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  Old  people  always  said  that  the  value  of 
the  habit  thus  formed  could  hardly  be  overestimated. 

Texts  were  at  that  time  usually  pertinent  to  the  occasion. 
Thus,  when  on  March  20,  1801,  the  Connecticut  Kiver,  swollen 
by  the  greatest  freshet  ever  known  in  its  history,  burst  its 
bounds  and  carried  away  banks  and  bridges,  sweeping  out  flocks 
and  herds,  and  flooding  some  of  our  meadows  to  a  depth  of 
twenty  feet,  our  minister  preached  from  Amos  9 :5 :  ''And  it  shall 
rise  up  wholly  like  a  flood. ' '    Upon  the  death  of  one  of  our  pas- 


$  • 


Fiom    "Old    Time    Meeting   Houses" — C.    A.    Wight 
THIRD   MEETING  HOUSE 


THE  EVOLUTION"  OF  A  CHURCH  119 

tors,  the  text  of  the  funeral  sermon  was:  ''He  maketh  *  *  * 
his  ministers  a  flame  of  fire."  After  the  alarm  at  Lexington 
the  text  chosen  was:  "When  the  host  goeth  forth  against  thine 
enemies,  then  keep  thee  from  every  wicked  thing. ' '  Later  when 
a  company  of  soldiers  set  out  for  the  army,  a  sermon  was 
preached  from  the  words:  "The  Lord  thy  God  walketh  in  the 
midst  of  thy  camp,  to  deliver  thee  and  to  give  up  thine  enemies 
before  thee."  The  last  clause  of  a  text  from  Jeremiah  was 
most  comforting  to  the  friends  of  these  volunteers,  "And  they 
shall  come  again  from  the  land  of  the  enemy." 

It  was  said  of  Eev.  Joseph  D.  Condit,  the  town's  fifth  min- 
ister, that  however  severe  upon  evil-doers  his  sermon  might 
be,  his  closing  remarks  always  contained  some  gentle  allusion 
to  the  boundless  love  and  mercy  of  Christ,  and  his  hearers  went 
home  with  beautiful  thoughts  of  God.  He  was  a  peace-loving 
man,  and  was  greatly  beloved  in  the  community.  Mr.  Condit 
was  in  the  habit  of  visiting  each  school  once  in  two  months,  and 
his  presence  was  welcomed  in  every  neighborhood.  His  wife 
often  accompanied  him  on  his  pastoral  calls,  and  many  and 
urgent  were  the  requests  that  they  would  stay  to  tea.  His  usual 
reply  was  a  pleasant  "Thank  you.  But  please  remember  that 
all  we  want  for  supper  is  your  good  bread  and  milk,  and  some 
of  your  gingerbread." 

Upon  one  of  these  occasions  it  began  to  rain  during  the 
afternoon,  and  as  he  was  at  the  time  suffering  from  a  severe 
cold,  his  wife  was  a  little  anxious.  Just  as  they  were  leaving  the 
home  of  their  hostess  a  messenger  appeared  with  the  request 
that  he  come  to  the  bedside  of  a  sick  man  who  desired  to  speak 
with  him.  "It  would  be  a  great  risk,"  said  Mrs.  Condit,  firmly, 
"and  you  cannot  go."  "The  man  needs  me,"  he  replied,  "and 
whatever  I  ought  to  do  I  can  do, ' '  and  he  accordingly  went. 

In  1847  he  became  very  ill  and  one  Sunday  morning  repeated 
slowly  his  favorite  hymn,  "Welcome,  sweet  day  of  rest. ' '  A  few 
moments  later  he  said,  "Before  this  day  closes  I  shall  have  en- 
tered into  an  eternal  Sabbath."  After  the  morning  service  had 
commenced  he  told  those  about  him  that  he  would  like  to  bid 
each  one  of  his  people  good-bye.     This  message  was  carried 


120  m  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

to  the  church,  and  one  by  one  the  worshipers  went  silently  over 
to  the  parsonage,  where  he  took  each  by  the  hand,  speaking 
gentle  words  of  farewell,  and  with  tears  in  their  eyes  they  re- 
turned to  their  places  in  the  sanctuary.  Before  sunset  he  had, 
as  the  Hawaiians  say,  entered  upon  that  narrow  pathway  which 
knows  no  backward  turning.  At  his  request  there  was  placed 
upon  his  breast  in  the  casket  a  paper  containing  only  these  three 
words — Grace,  Grace,  Grace.  His  daily  rule  of  conduct  was  thus 
given  in  his  own  words:  "Put  off  the  world;  put  on  Christ; 
live  for  God  and  an  Eternal  Heaven." 


CHAPTER    SEVEN 

THE  INDIANS 

HALF  a  century  ago  the  old  people  used  to  say  that  a  cer- 
tain elevation  of  land  in  the  northern  part  of  Granbj^ 
called  Mt.  Norwottuck,  was  formerly  the  winter  head- 
quarters of  the  Indian  tribe  who  ranged  our  forests.  The  truth 
of  this  statement  is  confirmed  by  an  incident  which  was  related 
by  the  late  Moses  White,  of  Southwick. 

One  day  in  the  month  of  February,  many  years  ago,  he 
was  chopping  wood  on  the  south  side  of  the  Holyoke  Range  when 
his  companion  said:  *'I  can  show  you  cowslips  in  blossom,"  an 
assertion  which  Moses  Wliite  doubted.  The  next  day,  after 
having  eaten  their  dinner,  his  companion  led  him  up  the  side  of 
Mt.  Norwottuck  to  the  place  where  a  warm  spring  was  flowing 
from  beneath  a  rock.  For  several  feet  around  this  spring  the 
grass  was  as  green  as  in  the  middle  of  May,  and  close  to  it  the 
cowslips  were  in  full  bloom,  while  beyond  this  patch  of  green 
the  ground  was  deeply  covered  by  snow. 

This  may,  at  first  thought,  appear  improbable,  but  a  sim- 
ilar spring,  it  is  said,  still  exists  on  Chicopee  Plains,  on  the  land 
belonging  to  Henry  Baker,  of  Granby,  and  is  one  of  those 
that  unite  to  form  Cooley's  Brook,  the  source  of  Chicopee 's 
water  supply. 

In  summer  the  favorite  camping  grounds  of  the  Indians 
were  the  one  near  the  Slipe  Meadow,  in  Granby,  and  the  other 
a  little  above  Smith's  Ferry,  between  the  two  points  of  junc- 
tion where  Stony  Brook  and  Bachelor's  River,  as  it  was  then 
called,  flow  into  the  Connecticut, 

But  the  advent  of  civilization  has  banished  these  ancient 
lords  of  the  manor  and  the  cutting  away  of  the  forests  has  so 
dwarfed  the  old-time  river  that  it  is  now  known  only  as  Bach- 
elor's Brook,  and  from  like  causes  the  spring  upon  the  side  of 
Mt.  Norwottuck  may  also  have  disappeared.  Most  of  the 
mounds,  too,  each  of  which  was  supposed  to  mark  an  Indian 


123  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

grave,  have  been  leveled,  althougli  two  of  them  remained  on  or 
near  Woodbridge  street  as  late  as  1850.  The  principal  burial 
ground  of  the  red  men  was  on  Bridge  street,  a  little  north  of 
the  drinking  fountain.  Head  smashers,  stone  axes,  tomahawks, 
arrows  and  other  implements  of  war  are  still  uncovered  by  plow 
and  harrow. 

Many  and  varied  are  the  legends  that  have  been  handed 
down  by  our  forefathers ;  perhaps  the  earliest  and  least  widely 
known  is  the  following: 

Although  it  was  a  time  of  peace,  one  of  Hadley's  young  men 
had  given  great  offense  to  the  South  Hadley  Indians.  It  may  be 
that  he  was  too  ardent  and  persevering  a  hunter  south  of  the 
mountain  upon  lands  that  they  looked  upon  as  peculiarly  their 
own,  for  in  selling  their  domains  they  did  not  consider  that  they 
were  giving  up  their  right  to  dwell  and  hunt  therein.  But  what- 
ever may  have  been  their  cause  of  complaint  the  feeling  against 
him  became  so  bitter  that  a  council  was  called  in  order  to  decide 
upon  some  fitting  punishment.  One  shrewd  Indian,  well  versed 
in  the  ways  of  white  people,  suggested  that  the  capture  of  the 
young  man's  sweetheart  would  prove  a  most  effective  penalty 
for  his  crime.  This  plan  met  with  approval  and  was  carried  out, 
the  girl  being  concealed  in  their  camp  at  South  Hadley  on  the 
eastern  bank  of  the  Connecticut.  So  quietly  had  the  abduction 
been  managed  that  for  weeks  no  trace  of  the  captured  maiden 
could  be  obtained. 

At  last  her  whereabouts  was  discovered;  she  was  impris- 
oned in  a  wigwam  at  the  rear  of  the  Indian  camp,  and  it  is  safe  to 
conclude,  since  it  was  usual  in  all  such  cases,  that  two  women 
slept  side  by  side,  across  the  doorway  of  the  hut,  making  escape, 
as  they  supposed,  impossible.  One  moonlight  night  the  very 
best  rowers  in  Hadley  embarked  at  midnight  and  floated  silently 
down  the  river.  When  they  had  nearly  reached  the  encamp- 
ment they  beached  their  boat,  and  with  a  cunning  which  they 
had  learned  from  the  Indians  themselves,  stole  softly  through 
the  woods  until  they  had  reached  their  goal,  and  breathed  rather 
than  whispered  their  instructions  to  the  prisoner. 

Long  knives  had  been  provided,  the  intention  being  to  make 


THE  INDIANS  123 

an  opening  in  the  back  of  the  wigwam,  an  opening  which  would 
enable  them  to  grasp  the  prostrate  maiden  by  the  shoulders  and 
draw  her  gently  forth. 

When  this  feat  had  been  successfully  accomplished  the 
party  retreated  quickly  and  quietly  to  the  boat.  At  this  point  a 
new  difiQculty  awaited  them.  They  had  slipped  silently  down 
with  the  current,  but  oars  must  be  used  in  the  voyage  up  stream 
and  the  swish  of  the  water  would  be  sure  to  arouse  the  sleeping 
camp.  The  English  had  not  yet  learned  the  Indian  art  of  row- 
ing silently  by  turning  the  blade  of  the  oar  flat  and  taking  their 
next  stroke  without  lifting  it  from  the  water.  Gro  they  must,  and 
go  they  did,  but  their  forecast  proved  true,  for  an  Indian  canoe 
was  speedily  manned  and  sent  in  pursuit  of  them. 

The  young  lover  had  chosen  his  crew  wisely,  and  they  held 
their  distance  well  while  with  an  even  sweep  the  oars  flashed 
and  gleamed  in  the  silver  light.  At  the  Oxbow  they  turned  in 
order  to  make  a  circuit  of  the  peninsula,  the  river  not  having 
then  broken  through  its  new  channel,  so  that  a  neck  of  land  con- 
nected it  with  the  shore.  Hardly  had  they  rounded  its  western 
point  when  they  saw  that  the  Indians,  instead  of  following  in 
their  wake,  had  landed,  and  were  GUYvymg  the  canoe  upon  their 
shoulders  across  this  narrow  strip  of  land.  Launching  it  upon 
the  other  side,  they  were  soon  abreast  of  the  white  men  and 
between  them  and  Hadley.  For  the  moment  no  hope  remained. 
Then  someone  remembered  that  the  chief,  who  lived  upon  the 
island  north  of  them,  was  one  whose  authority  was  respected 
by  every  member  of  the  tribe,  and  they  resolved  to  ask  his  pro- 
tection. The  Indians  divined  their  purpose,  and  they  also 
steered  for  the  island,  the  two  parties  landing  at  nearly  the 
same  time.  The  Indians  wished  to  tomahawk  the  whites,  but  the 
old  chief  forbade  them.  Each  told  his  story,  both  claiming  the 
captive.  After  some  meditation  the  chief  announced  that  the 
case  should  be  decided  by  a  wrestling  match  between  one  from 
among  the  red  men  and  one  from  the  rescue  party.  Whoever 
first  threw  his  opponent,  his  side  won. 

The  Indians  were  jubilant,  for  one  of  their  most  famous 
athletes  was  with  them,  and  he  was  immediately  advanced  as 


134  IX  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

their  champion.  The  young  lover  begged  that  he  might  be  the 
one  to  contend  with  him.  "It  is  your  right,"  said  his  comrades, 
and  the  contest  began.  For  some  time  victory  seemed  to  hang 
in  the  balance,  the  one  was  supple  and  experienced,  the  other 
nerved  to  desperation  by  the  peril  of  his  sweetheart.  At  last, 
by  an  almost  superhuman  effort,  the  young  white  man  threw 
his  adversary. 

The  chief  then  directed  the  Indians  to  return  to  their  camp, 
an  order  which  was  sullenly  obeyed. 

Then  the  exultant  white  men  rowed  merrily  home,  and  if 
their  song  of  triumph,  as  they  passed  down  the  broad  street, 
wakened  their  sleeping  neighbors,  there  were  none  to  say  them 
nay,  for  the  whole  town  rejoiced  at  the  return  of  the  captive 
maiden. 

There  were  other  traditions  with  a  more  tragic  ending. 
One  of  these  was  the  story  of  the  Indian  girl  whose  lover  had 
been  slain  by  the  white  men,  and  who  climbed  to  the  summit 
of  the  cliff  overhanging  that  mass  of  trap  rock  formerly  called 
the  Devil's  Garden,  stretching  up  her  arms  toward  Heaven  as  if 
to  invoke  Divine  vengeance  upon  her  foes,  she  threw  herself 
down  the  jagged  incline,  and  among  the  early  settlers  the  place 
was  afterwards  known  as  Heartbreak  Hill. 

Then,  too,  there  is  a  legend  that  the  last  of  his  tribe  stood 
on  Titan 's  Pier  and,  surveying  their  once  happy  hunting  ground, 
now  tilled  by  the  relentless  hand  of  the  white  man,  leaped,  hope- 
less and  disheartened,  into  the  deep  pool  that  waited  beneath. 

''South  Hadley  always  hated  the  Indians,"  was  the  codicil 
to  nearly  everj'  local  legacy  of  fact  which  has  been  handed  down 
to  posterity  concerning  the  aborigines,  and  indeed  why  should 
they  not?  The  Norwottucks,  it  is  true,  were  more  quiet  and 
peaceable  than  most  of  their  race.  But  there  were  savage  tribes 
farther  afield  whose  unparalleled  cruelties  will  never  be  forgot- 
ten. Take,  for  example,  the  case  of  Deacon  Joseph  Eastman, 
one  of  the  early  proprietors  of  our  town  and  the  friend  and 
helper  of  our  first  minister. 

Deacon  Joseph  was  the  ancestor  of  all  the  Eastmans  and 
most  of  the  Smiths  in  this  region.    Joseph,  while  still  a  youth. 


THE  INDIANS  125 

entered  the  family  of  Rev.  John  Williams  of  Deerfield  in  order 
to  prepare  himself  for  the  work  of  the  ministry.  Two  soldiers 
who  had  been  quartered  there  for  the  protection  of  the  town  slept 
in  the  second  story  of  the  dwelling. 

One  cold  night  in  winter,  when  the  ground  was  covered  with 
ice  and  snow  and  the  wind  swept  remorselessly  past,  they  were 
awakened  by  the  sound  of  heavy  blows  upon  the  front  door 
and  the  voice  of  the  minister  calling  up  the  stairway  that  the 
Indians  were  upon  them.  One  of  the  soldiers,  with  a  quickness 
of  perception  that  easily  accounted  for  his  rapid  promotion  in 
military  rank,  threw  his  heavy  cloak  from  the  window  and, 
barefooted  as  he  was,  jumped  out  upon  it.  Not  so  Joseph  and 
the  other  soldier.  Hardly  had  they  time  to  grasp  their  shoes 
and  stockings  before  the  door  crashed  in  and  they  found  them- 
selves in  the  hands  of  their  savage  foes.  Bound  hand  and  foot, 
they  waited,  shivering  in  the  icy  air,  while  the  house  was  being 
pillaged.  The  baby,  wakened  by  the  noise,  uttered  a  cry,  but  the 
little  voice  was  instantly  stilled  forever. 

So  sudden  and  simultaneous  had  been  the  attack  upon  the 
whole  neighborhood  that  the  underground  passages  leading 
from  house  to  house,  which  had  been  prepared  for  just  such  an 
emergency,  proved  wholly  useless. 

After  the  work  of  devastation  was  complete  the  captives 
were  led  from  the  house,  which  was  then  burned  to  the  ground. 
Wlio  can  tell  of  that  long  journey  to  Canada? 

By  day  Joseph  marched  side  by  side  with  his  Indian  mas- 
ter, over  miles  of  ice  and  snow,  and  at  night,  weary,  footsore, 
and  half  famished,  laid  himself  down  to  a  sleep  broken  by  fitful 
dreams  of  the  home  he  had  left  behind. 

He  was  prevented  from  making  any  attempt  to  escape,  not 
by  the  watchfulness  of  the  savages,  but  by  their  dire  threat, 
which  he  knew  was  certain  of  execution,  that  if  any  man  fled  in 
the  night  the  remainder  of  the  captives  would  be  massacred  the 
next  day. 

His  one  pleasant  memory  of  the  journey  was  of  a  kindly 
French  woman,  who  invited  them  in  and  gave  them  a  dinner. 
But  great  was  the  indignation  of  their  Indian  masters  when  she 


126  IX  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

seated  her  white  guests  at  table  with  herself  and  bade  the  red 
men  eat  their  dinner  sitting  on  mats  before  the  fire. 

After  three  years  of  captivity  in  Canada,  Joseph  Eastman 
was  discovered  and  ransomed,  mainly  through  the  efforts  of  the 
clever  yoimg  soldier  who  had  escaped  through  the  window.  But 
the  hardships  and  privations  of  that  time  had  so  dulled  the  fire 
and  vigor  of  his  youth  that  he  no  longer  sought  to  enter  the 
ministry,  and  returned  to  the  farm  of  his  grandfather,  the  Hon. 
Peter  Tilton. 

His  son  William  was  early  in  life  appointed  clerk  of  the 
church  in  South  Hadley,  and  afterwards  was  for  many  years  a 
deacon  in  Granby.  Another  son,  Benjamin,  generally  known  as 
Squire  Eastman,  lived  at  the  Five  Corners,  in  the  house  now 
owned  by  Henry  Moody. 

Although  South  Hadley  suffered  less  at  the  hands  of  the  In- 
dians than  did  many  of  the  neighboring  towns,  yet  there  was 
always  this  element  of  uncertainty  in  regard  to  the  movements 
of  the  red  men.  Xo  one  could  foretell  what  would  be  their  next 
point  of  attack. 

The  treatment  of  the  first  white  captive,  the  great-grand- 
father of  the  town's  third  minister,  taken  through  South  Had- 
ley on  his  way  to  Canada,  is  thus  described: 

"Coming  to  South  Hadley  Falls,  the  party  crossed  the  Con- 
necticut Eiver  by  fording  and  swimming  and  spent  the  ensuing 
night  at  the  base  of  Mt.  Holyoke.  The  captive  was  secured 
during  the  night  by  being  placed  upon  his  back  with  each  arm 
and  ankle  strongly  fastened  to  a  sapling  and  with  sticks  so 
crossing  his  body  as  to  be  lain  upon  by  an  Indian  on  each  side. 
He  passed  most  of  his  nights  bound  in  this  manner,  during  his 
long  march  to  Canada.  His  sufferings  were  excessive  and  al- 
most without  intermission,  which  in  most  cases  would  have 
brought  the  victim  to  the  grave." 

It  was  nearly  seven  years  before  he  again  stood  at  the  foot 
of  Mt.  Holyoke,  and  this  time  as  a  free  man. 

The  spirit  of  the  red  men  toward  the  white  was  well  illus- 
trated by  the  answer  of  an  old  Indian  woman  who,  in  time  of 
peace,  had  joined  one  of  our  local  churches.    A  feUow  member, 


THE  INDIANS  127 

having  made  some  unkind  remarks  in  regard  to  her,  the  min- 
ister gave  him  his  choice  between  apologizing  to  Old  Zuba  or 
being  suspended  from  communion.  Eather  sullenly  he  told  the 
Indian  woman  that  he  was  sorry  and  hoped  she  would  forgive 
and  forget.  "Yes,"  she  answered  briskly,  "I'll  forgive  and 
forget,  but  /  shall  remember  it  as  long  as  I  live." 

One  of  the  strangest  retributions  of  history  dated  back  to 
the  flight  of  the  Indians  from  this  and  surrounding  towns, 
which  occurred  on  a  certain  Friday  in  August,  1676,  after  the 
downfall  of  Phillip. 

Two  hundred  Indians,  men,  women  and  children,  had  gath- 
ered at  South  Hadley  Falls,  where  during  the  afternoon  they 
constructed  rafts  upon  which  they  poled  themselves  across  the 
Connecticut  Eiver,  camping  for  the  night  upon  the  farther  shore. 
Here  they  kindled  many  fires,  partly  for  the  purpose  of  cooking 
their  suppers  and  partly,  doubtless,  as  a  protection  against  wild 
beasts.  As  there  was  at  that  time  no  human  habitation  be- 
tween them  and  Mt.  Holyoke,  they  apparently  had  no  fear  of  dis- 
covery. But  the  vigilant  eyes  of  Springfield's  sentinels  detected 
the  columns  of  smoke,  and  the  next  day,  finding  that  the  trail  of 
the  Indians  came  from  the  Northeast,  they  so  reported  upon 
their  return.  Meanwhile  the  red  men  had  proceeded  westward 
and  had  passed  Westfield,  from  whence  a  messenger  was  quickly 
despatched  to  Major  PjTichon,  at  Springfield,  telling  him  the 
Indians  had  skirted  the  town.  While  they  considered  the  mat- 
ter an  unexpected  ally  arrived. 

During  the  previous  year  every  house  in  Brookfield  had 
been  burned  by  the  Indians,  and  the  inhabitants  had  been  obliged 
to  abandon  the  settlement,  and  in  their  once  well-tilled  fields 
the  former  were  now  raising  a  crop  of  corn. 

To  Major  Talcott  it  seemed  a  pity  that  our  land  should  af- 
ford sustenance  for  the  savage  foe,  and  taking  with  him  both 
white  men  and  Mohegans  he  went  to  Quabaug,  as  it  was  called, 
and  cut  down  all  the  corn.  Returning  by  way  of  Springfield 
he  arrived  on  this  very  Saturday.  Resting  his  men  for  a  single 
night,  he  started  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy.  Not  expecting  such 
an  army,  the  Westfield  housekeepers  had  failed  to  fill  their  big 


128  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

ovens,  and  food  was  not  to  be  had  in  large  quantities.  But  Tal- 
cott  and  his  men  hurried  forward  on  what  was  destined  to  be 
thenceforth  known  as  "The  Hungry  March." 

Sunday  and  Monday  passed,  but  the  Indians  were  not  over- 
taken. Food  was  so  scarce  that  the  Major  sent  back  all  of  his 
horses  and  the  greater  part  of  his  men.  He  retained  the  pro- 
visions, of  which  little  remained,  and  pressed  on.  Tuesday  he 
came  up  with  the  Indians  at  the  Housatonic  Eiver.  Here  he 
gave  battle,  killing  forty-five  and  taking  fifteen  prisoners,  with 
but  the  loss  of  one  man,  a  Mohegan  Indian. 

In  this  battle  the  cruel  and  treacherous  Sachem  of  Brook- 
field  was  slain ;  but  the  rest  of  the  Indians,  who  escaped,  crossed 
the  state  line  between  New  York  and  Massachusetts  and  settled 
upon  the  farther  side  of  the  border. 

The  Governor  of  Connecticut  was  so  much  pleased  with 
Major  Talcott's  exploit  that  he  appointed  a  day  of  thanksgiv- 
ing, which  was  kept  all  over  the  State. 

These  Indians  remained  undisturbed  for  nearly  eighty 
years;  the  older  members  of  the  tribe  handing  down  to  their 
descendants  the  story  of  this  terrible  march  from  South  Had- 
ley  to  the  Housatonic.  The  memory  of  this  injury  still  un- 
avenged, although  slumbering,  was  not  allowed  to  die. 

Now,  however,  it  was  a  time  of  peace  and  people  had  grown 
careless.  Emboldened  by  the  thought  of  their  French  allies, 
these  Indian  refugees  believed  that  the  time  had  come  in  which 
to  avenge  their  ancestors.  Sall>ang  forth,  burning,  pillage  and 
massacre,  marked  every  step  of  their  path ;  and  thus  did  Hamp- 
shire County  first  learn  that  she  must  prepare  for  immediate 
war. 

Within  less  than  a  decade  Granby  and  South  Hadley  had 
sent  forth  their  brave  sons  to  do  battle  in  the  French  and  In- 
dian wars  that  were  devastating  the  land.  Some  of  them  had 
fallen  by  the  wayside  and  .^ome  of  them  had  languished  in  cap- 
tivity. Yet  such  was  the  loyalty  of  our  town  that  eighty  names 
of  soldiers  were  entered  upon  its  service  list.  Nor  were  the 
other  towns  less  patriotic.  There  were  sharp  crises  in  this 
war  when  mounted  messengers  rode  in  hot  haste  for  reinforce- 


o 

H     c 

£  ^ 

>     i" 

td    .^ 

o   ■ 

51    ^ 

w    - 
o    ^ 

THE  INDIANS  129 

ments.  One  of  our  adjoining  towns  sent  in  answer  to  this  call 
every  man  between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and  sixty  except  the 
minister. 

It  seemed  to  us  a  dreadful  thing  when,  during  the  Civil 
War,  we  learned  that  one  in  every  ten  among  our  able-bodied 
men  had  enlisted.  Yet  in  the  French  and  Indian  AVar,  in  1757, 
one-third  of  all  the  men  in  Massachusetts  were  in  the  field,  and 
South  Hadley  had  sent  a  still  larger  proportion  of  her  sons. 

Many  strange  things  happened  in  Hampshire  County  dur- 
ing this  war.  The  movements  of  the  Indians  were  so  silent  and 
stealthy  that  the  unsuspecting  inhabitants  often  fell  into  ambush 
through  mere  carelessness.  This  was  illustrated  in  the  case  of  a 
little  girl  named  Molly  Smead,  who  lived  a  few  miles  to  the 
north  of  us.  She  had  been  warned  against  going  near  the  edge 
of  the  wood,  but  in  the  excitement  of  a  game  of  tag  ran  to  the 
very  border  of  the  forest.  An  Indian  lurking  near  caught  her 
up  and,  placing  his  hand  over  her  mouth  in  order  to  stifle  her 
cries  for  help,  carried  her  back  to  the  camp.  From  there  she 
was  sent  to  a  village  in  Canada,  whose  chief  showed  her  much 
compassion,  shielding  her  as  far  as  possible  from  cruel  treat- 
ment. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  village  demanded  that,  as  was  the 
custom  with  other  white  captives,  she  should  "run  the  gaunt- 
let. ' '  The  chief,  believing  that  on  account  of  her  youth  this  would 
mean  certain  death,  refused  for  a  time  to  allow  it,  but  the  tumult 
increased  to  such  a  degree  that  he  was  obliged  to  yield,  and  ap- 
pointed a  day  for  this  ordeal. 

The  decision  was  made  known  to  Molly  by  an  old  Indian 
who  could  speak  broken  English.  He  had  noticed  that  she  was 
an  attractive  child  and  had  a  musical  voice,  and  so  added  in  a 
whisper:  ''Missey  Molly,  you  sing  and  dance  all  the  way  and 
they  not  whip  you  so  much." 

At  the  appointed  time  all  the  men,  women  and  children  in 
the  neighborhood  were  arranged  facing  one  another,  in  two  long 
lines,  between  which  she  must  pass.  They  stood  with  right  hand 
uplifted,  each  holding  a  pliant  rod  with  which  to  strike  her  as 


130  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

she  ran.  Molly,  following  the  instruction  of  her  friendly  adviser 
and  singing  in  her  sweetest  voice,  went  dancing  gaily  down  the 
line,  while  the  Indians  stood  listening  in  motionless  surprise. 
One  old  drunken  woman  gave  her  a  stinging  blow  which  made 
the  flesh  quiver  beneath  the  one  thin  garment  she  was  permit- 
ted to  wear,  but  without  hesitating  for  an  instant  she  prolonged 
her  song,  until  she  had  reached  the  end.  Then  arose  a  Babel 
of  voices  clamoring  fiercely  for  her  to  run  the  gauntlet  again, 
but  this  the  chief  refused. 

Meantime  the  Connecticut  troops  had  taken  prisoner  a 
young  Indian  girl,  whom  the  Governor  of  that  State  offered  in 
exchange  for  Molly  Smead.  To  this  the  red  men  would  not  at 
first  consent,  but  after  a  sufficiently  large  amount  of  redemption 
money  had  been  added  the  transfer  was  effected,  and  Molly 
returned  to  her  home  in  safety. 

There  were  some  humorous  as  well  as  tragical  incidents  in 
this  war.  In  this  same  locality  was  a  fort  so  large  that  in  case 
of  Indian  alarm  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  village  could  find 
shelter  for  the  night.  Upon  one  such  occasion  the  sentinel  who 
went  on  duty  at  midnight  was  a  young  man  of  but  little  experi- 
ence in  Indian  warfare. 

Soon  after  twelve  o'clock  the  moon  arose,  but  obscured  by 
clouds  through  which  came  a  dull,  uncertain  light.  Presently  the 
young  guard  observed  a  figure  beneath  the  spreading  branches 
of  a  large  oak  tree  which  stood  outside  the  fort.  Thinking  it 
some  belated  neighbor,  he  demanded,  "Who  goes  there?"  The 
figure  moved  slightly,  but  there  was  no  reply.  Raising  his  voice, 
he  repeated  hi&  challenge  a  second  time,  with  the  same  result 
as  before.  Aiming  his  gun  carefully,  he  shouted,  "Who  goes 
there?  Answer,  or  I  fire."  Again  receiving  no  reply,  he  dis- 
charged his  piece,  which  aroused  the  whole  garrison,  who  at  once 
commenced  a  furious  fusillade  against  the  dark  object  beneath 
the  tree.  Finding  that  they  had  produced  no  effect  they  rested 
on  their  arms,  but  watched  until  the  first  beams  of  morning  light 
disclosed  the  innocent  target  of  their  marksmanship.  A  woman 
of  the  garrison  had  washed  her  dress  and  hung  it  from  one  of 


THE  INDIANS  131 

the  lower  branches  of  the  oak  to  dry,  where  it  had  fluttered  all 
night  in  the  wind.  It  was,  of  course,  ruined,  being  completely 
riddled  with  bullet  holes,  and  the  verdict  of  the  sleepy  and  dis- 
comfited garrison  was  that  it  served  her  right  for  depriving 
them  of  a  night's  rest. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  from  the  beginning  of  King 
William's  War,  in  1688,  to  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  in  1763,  more 
than  half  of  the  time  was  filled  with  scenes  of  war  and  blood- 
shed. The  struggle  between  England  and  France  for  supremacy 
in  America  entailed  incessant  watchfulness  on  the  part  of  the 
colonists.  The  Indians,  inspired  by  their  French  allies,  made 
fresh  attacks  upon  some  of  the  villages  about  us,  compelling  the 
inhabitants  to  forsake  their  homes  and  take  refuge  in  the  larger 
towns. 

When  the  call  came  for  more  soldiers.  South  Hadley  re- 
sponded by  giving  the  very  flower  of  her  young  men  to  the 
army.  Three  of  our  pioneers  sent  their  five  sons  to  assist  in  the 
reduction  of  Canada,  William,  John,  Peter  and  Josiah  Mon- 
tague and  Phineas  Smith. 

Peter  Montague  was  at  the  siege  of  Louisburg  in  1745.  No 
sooner  had  our  troops  landed  than  the  French  spiked  the  can- 
non in  their  outer  fortifications  and  retired  behind  the  inner  de- 
fenses, which  were  supposed  to  be  impregnable. 

Now  Peter's  major  was  a  gunsmith  and  declared  the  can- 
non could  be  repaired.  Permission  having  been  given,  he 
selected  twenty  assistants,  drilled  out  and  reversed  the  cannon, 
and  the  siege  was  then  commenced. 

But  it  was  necessary  to  drag  their  own  artillery  across  a 
morass  impassable  for  horses  or  oxen,  so  Peter  and  his  com- 
rades placed  straps  about  their  shoulders,  and  for  fourteen 
nights  dragged  the  cannon  through  mud  and  water  reaching  to 
the  ankles,  and  in  some  cases  even  to  the  knees.  They  had  no 
bed  but  Mother  Earth  and  no  tent  to  shelter  them,  only  rude  huts 
made  of  turf  and  brushwood.  This  hardship  and  exposure  was 
too  great  for  one  so  young  as  Peter,  and  the  ultimate  song  of 
triumph  fell  upon  ears  that  were  deaf  to  its  notes. 


132  m  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

John  Woodbridge,  the  eldest  son  of  our  minister,  instead 
of  studying  theology  as  was  expected,  spent  eight  years  in  the 
defense  of  his  country  during  the  French  and  Indian  wars. 
Entering  the  army  as  a  private,  he  rose  to  the  rank  of  lieuten- 
ant simply  upon  his  own  merit. 

He  was  present  at  the  siege  of  Quebec  and  took  part  in  that 
memorable  battle  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham,  in  which  both  Wolfe 
and  Montcalm  were  slain. 

Doubtless  he  always  remembered  one  incident  of  his  peril- 
ous passage  up  the  St.  Lawrence  on  the  evening  preceding  this 
assault.  Wlien  the  sentinel  at  the  fort  challenged  them  in 
French  with  the  customary  "Who  goes  there?"  one  of  the  oars- 
men replied  in  the  same  language,  "The  provision  boat.  Don't 
speak  so  loud  or  the  English  will  hear  you, ' '  and,  holding  their 
breath  with  suppressed  laughter,  they  glided  past. 

The  death  of  Montcalm  might  not  have  seemed  an  unde- 
served retribution  to  Job  Alvord,  another  of  our  young  soldiers. 
He  had  been  one  of  a  beleaguered  garrison  surrounded  by  the 
army  of  Montcalm,  which  outnumbered  them  three  to  one.  Mes- 
sengers had  been  despatched  to  Fort  Edward,  fifteen  miles  away, 
for  aid,  a  request  which  the  commanding  general  refused,  send- 
ing them  in  return  a  letter  advising  immediate  surrender.  This 
communication  was  intercepted  by  Montcalm,  who  forwarded  it 
to  the  besieged  garrison,  offering  terms  of  capitulation  which 
for  those  times  do  not  seem  to  have  been  severe. 

On  condition  that  they  would  not  fight  for  a  year  and  a 
half,  they  were  promised  safe  escort  to  Fort  Edward  and  per- 
mission to  carry  with  them  their  arms  and  baggage.  When  they 
reached  the  woods  a  mile  from  the  fort  the  Indians,  contrary  to 
all  stipulations,  fell  upon  them,  killing  some,  wounding  others 
and  plundering  all  who  came  within  their  reach. 

Job  Alvord  escaped  with  his  life  and  probably  considered 
that  this  act  of  treachery  released  him  from  his  parole,  for  we 
hear  of  him  shortly  after  as  holding  the  position  of  lieutenant 
in  the  army. 

The  first  marriage  registered  in  our  town  was  that  of  this 


THE  mDIANS  133 

same  Job  Alvord  and  Eebekali  Smith,  both  of  South  Hadley. 
There  had,  however,  been  other  marriages  previous  to  this  which 
failed  of  registration,  for  Josiah,  son  of  Peter  Montague,  had 
wedded  his  cousin  Abigail,  and  was  soon  after  sent  on  an  expe- 
dition against  the  French  at  Crown  Point,  from  which  he  did 
not  return  until  three  years  later. 

In  one  respect  their  manifold  experiences  by  sea  and  land 
were  fruitful  of  good  to  the  men  of  our  town.  It  was  an  ex- 
cellent preparatory  school  for  the  War  of  the  Revolution  so 
soon  to  follow.  It  taught  them  the  use  of  arms,  bayonets  hav- 
ing now  been  introduced  for  the  first  time.  It  made  the  coun- 
try conscious  of  its  own  strength,  and  in  other  towns  as  well 
as  in  tliis  the  leading  soldiers  in  the  French  and  Indian  wars 
became  the  officers  of  the  Revolutionary  Army. 

It  was  not  until  many  years  after  the  War  of  Independ- 
ence had  ended  that  the  Indians  finally  disappeared  from  our 
town.  Roving  bands  often  visited  the  scattered  farmhouses, 
asking  for  a  drink  of  cider,  or  perhaps  a  seat  at  the  dinner 
table.  They  were  much  given  to  pilfering,  but  still  displayed 
their  national  characteristic,  and  were  grateful  toward  those 
who  afforded  them  food  and  shelter.  Months  afterwards  these 
persons  who  had  befriended  them  were  the  recipients  of  numer- 
ous gifts. 

A  daughter  of  Dr.  G.  G.  Hitchcock,  of  South  Hadley  Falls, 
thus  describes  an  incident  in  the  life  of  one  of  her  ancestors, 
who  had  purchased  a  "shay"  in  the  early  days: 

' '  In  the  first  stage  of  his  pride  of  ownership  an  Indian  chief 
in  the  neighborhood  came  to  borrow  it  in  order  to  visit  a  chief  in 
New  York  State.  'I  will  return  it  at  the  end  of  three  months,' 
he  said.  The  owner  looked  at  his  resplendent  purchase  in  de- 
spair, but  the  Indians  were  too  powerful  to  be  refused.  So  he 
gave  them  the  shay,  never  expecting  to  see  it  again,  picturing 
to  himself  the  forest  paths,  the  rude  wood  roads  it  must  trav- 
erse. He  was  mistaken.  At  the  end  of  the  three  months,  punc- 
tual to  the  day,  came  the  old  chief  and  his  followers,  bearing 
with  them  the  chaise.     Not  a  scratch  marred  its  shining  sur- 


::  1  —i:i^  :.  _  _  -       zz.e  tribe 


'nder 


Mr.  Sin-:-  J-dd 
i:e,  is  still    z      :s- 


::  XcTth- 

T  — ith 
i  r7  for- 
i-r  lover 
&:i  i  for- 


-insr  orirL 


THE  INDIANS  135 

banks  of  our  loved  Connecticut,  you  may  still  catch  an  echo  of 
the  old  refrain: 

''Dark  as  the  frost-nipped  leaves  that  strew  the  ground, 
The  Indian  hunter  here  his  shelter  found; 
Here  cut  his  bow,  and  shaped  his  arrows  true ; 
Here  built  his  wigwam,  and  his  bark  canoe; 
Speared  the  quick  salmon  leaping  up  the  fall; 
And  slew  the  deer,  without  the  rifle  ball. ' ' 


CHAPTER  EIGHT 

SOUTH  HADLEY  IN  THE  KEVOLUTION 

HARDLY  had  the  last  echoes  of  the  French  and  Indian 
wars  died  away,  when  a  new  danger  threatened  onr  coun- 
try. England  had  assisted  us  in  our  struggle  with 
F  ranee,  by  sending  us  both  men  and  money,  and  now  determined 
to  reimburse  herself  for  this  expense  by  taxing  her  colonies. 

To  this  end  Parliament,  in  March,  1765,  passed  a  bill  known 
as  the  Stamp  Act,  which  was  not  to  become  operative  until 
November  first  of  that  year.  This  enactment  decreed  that  no 
deed,  bond,  note,  or  mortgage  should  thenceforth  be  valid  unless 
it  was  written  upon  stamped  paper,  and  some  of  these  stamps 
ran  as  high  as  thirty  dollars  each.  Also  no  marriage  should 
be  legal  unless  a  certificate  to  that  effect  were  made  out  on 
stamped  paper. 

This  edict  awakened  the  most  violent  opposition  in  our 
town,  and  one  of  our  ministers  publicly  declared  that  it  was 
unjust,  oppressive,  and  subversive  of  every  principle  of  free- 
dom. 

The  conclusions  of  South  Hadley  were  at  this  era  a  matter 
of  some  importance  since  there  were  but  four  larger  towns  in 
Western  Massachusetts.  Springfield,  stood  first,  then  West- 
field  ;  Northampton  ranked  next,  followed  by  Sheffield  and  South 
Hadley.  Worcester  and  Palmer  had  not  then  come  into  being, 
or  were  too  small  to  be  noticed.  This  census  taking  was  a  stum- 
bling block  to  many  of  the  elders  in  the  community;  they  re- 
minded their  friends  how  King  David  had  ''numbered  the  peo- 
ple," and  how  severe  was  his  punishment,  and  they  predicted 
that  famine  and  pestilence  would  be  the  result  of  the  present 
action. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  in  this  connection  that  in  one  of  the 
annual  Thanksgiving  sermons  of  that  day  we  find  our  old  min- 
ister mentioning  as  one  of  the  great  causes  for  gratitude  the 


SOUTH    HADLEY    IX    THE    REVOLUTION  137 

good  health  that  had  pervaded  the  community  throughout  the 
past  year. 

November  first,  the  day  on  which  the  Stamp  Act  was  to 
take  effect,  was  everywhere  observed  as  a  fast,  all  places  of 
business  being  closed.  In  cities,  the  morning  was  ushered  in  by 
the  tolling  of  church  bells,  and  this  was  continued  through  the 
day.  Effigies  were  placed  in  rude  coffins  bearing  the  inscrip- 
tion, "Liberty,  aged  145  years."  These  were  escorted  to 
the  place  of  interment  by  crowds  of  citizens,  who  stood  rever- 
ently about  the  grave  listening  to  the  funeral  oration,  while 
the  minute  guns,  at  intervals,  boomed  their  mournful  echo. 

South  Hadley  had  no  church  bell  to  toll,  but  we  may  be  sure 
that  Moody  Corner  sent  her  drummer  to  lead  with  mufflled  beats 
the  long  procession  of  mourners  that  paraded  the  streets. 
And  John  Lane,  Junior,  skilled  in  the  use  of  the  conch  shell, 
may  have  evoked  sad  notes  to  punctuate  the  slow  march.  We 
may  feel  certain  from  the  aftermath  that  all  who  possessed,  or 
could  borrow,  black  clothes  fell  into  line,  and  though  Eev.  Mr. 
Woodbridge,  being  over  sixty  years  of  age,  may  not  have  been 
at  their  head,  it  is  safe  to  presume  that  Rev.  Simon  Backus,  of 
our  eastern  parish,  was  there. 

The  privations  of  our  early  settlers  had  taught  their  chil- 
dren as  well  as  themselves  habits  of  self-denial,  and  now  it  was 
not  hard  for  them  to  follow  the  advice  of  their  spiritual  direc- 
tor and  refrain  from  the  purchase  of  English  luxuries,  which 
Major  John  Woodbridge  and  Deacon  William  Eastman  were 
wont  to  deal  out  to  them. 

The  resentment  against  the  Stamp  Act  was  so  great 
throughout  the  country  that  in  the  following  spring  it  was  re- 
pealed. The  news  of  this  event  reached  here  in  July,  and  the 
town  immediately  appointed  a  day  of  thanksgiving.  The  ser- 
mon preached  upon  this  occasion  by  one  of  our  ministers  has 
been  preserved,  and  some  brief  extracts  will  perhaps  illustrate 
the  dawning  spirit  of  the  Revolution  which  had  already  begun  to 
pervade  the  town. 

His  text  was  taken  from  the  twelfth  Psalm:    "The  snare 


138  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

is  broken  and  we  are  escaped."    After  reading  the  Proclama- 
tion, he  begins: 

**We  are  informed  in  general  in  the  Proclamation  that  it  is 
God's  having  graciously  inclined  the  King,  and  both  Houses  of 
Parliament,  so  far  to  barken  to  the  Petitions  of  his  loyal  and 
dutiful  subjects  as  to  consent  to  a  total  repeal  of  the  Stamp 
Act.  To  understand  the  true  ground  of  obligation  to  Gratitude 
and  Thankfulness  hence  arising,  it  is  necessary  to  take  into  con- 
sideration the  Nature  and  Genius  of  the  Act,  and  the  fatal  con- 
sequences which  might  reasonably  have  been  expected,  had  it 
been  enforced.  *  *  *  it  was  illegal  and  inconsistent  with 
the  Magna  Charta.  There  are  two  things  in  which  the  Act  ap- 
pears unconstitutional;  the  one  is  the  exacting  money  of  the 
subject  without  his  consent;  another  is  depriving  the  subject  in 
certain  cases  of  the  Liberty  of  Trial  by  Jury.  This  principle  is 
no  better  than  that  of  an  absolute  unlimited  Right  and  Author- 
ity in  the  Ruler  or  Magistrate  to  take  away  the  Property  of 
the  subject  whenever  he  pleases,  and  to  whatever  degree  he 
thinks  proper.  Only  admit  that  the  King  or  Supreme  Ruling 
Authority  has  a  right  to  tax  the  subjects  without  their  consent, 
it  will  follow  by  undesirable  consequence  that  he  has  a  right  to 
take  away  their  whole  estate,  rendering  them  nothing  but  Slaves 
and  Vassals,  and  reducing  them  to  Beggary  and  Starvation. 

*'The  execution  of  such  an  Act  or  Law  must  have  been  a 
very  great  calamity,  and  consequently  its  being  surrendered 
must  be  a  Very  Great  Mercy  and  Deliverance. 

''It  has  been  the  declared  opinion  of  some  of  considerable 
knowledge  in  Public  Affairs  that  all  the  money  in  the  country 
would  not  be  sufficient  to  answer  the  annual  amount  of  the 
Duties  thence  arising. 

"One  of  the  most  obvious  as  well  as  shocking  Consequences 
which  would  doubtless  have  ensued  from  a  continuance  of  the 
Stamp  Act  is  that  of  Civil  Wars,  Slaughter  and  Bloodshed  in 
almost  all  Parts  of  the  Land.  And  what  Numbers  would  have 
fallen  by  the  Sword  in  the  High  Places  of  the  Field  before  the 
country  would  have  been  brought  to  submit,  we  cannot  deter- 
mine. 


SOUTH    HADLEY    IX    THE    REVOLUTIOX  139 

'^  Considering  the  Vast  Disproportion  and  strength  of  this 
country  as  compared  with  Great  Britain,  it  would  be  stupidity 
and  madness  to  imagine  that  we  would  finally  stand  out  and  de- 
fend ourselves  against  them,  by  which  means  we  should  prob- 
ably have  been  stripped  of  all  our  Privileges,  Properties,  and 
Liberties,  as  having  forfeited  them  by  Rebellion  and  Treason. 
*  *  *  Therefore,  with  Regard  to  the  late  Merciful  Dis- 
pensation of  Divine  Providence,  we  should  consider  that  it  is 
God  indeed  who  hath  done  this  great  thing  for  us,  whereof  we 
are  glad,  and  not  ascribe  it  to  our  Wisdom,  Policy,  Spirited  Op- 
position, Resolute  Resistance,  Humble  Petitions,  etc.  But  it 
behooves  us  to  cry  out  with  the  Psalmist,  'Not  unto  us,  not  unto 
us,  oh.  Lord,  but  unto  Thy  Name  be  the  Glory. ' ' ' 

During  the  following  year  political  matters  seemed  quieter 
and  life  moved  on  in  its  accustomed  channels.  Our  people  gath- 
ered in  their  new  meeting  houses,  with  their  high  pulpits  and 
great,  square  pews,  but  they  carried  with  them  their  loyalist 
Hymn  Books,  and  as  the  precentor  lined  out  the  words,  "And 
own  the  King  the  Lord  hath  made,"  the  whole  congregation  sang 
them  with  undiminished  fervor. 

The  English  Crown  had  long  ago  claimed  that  it  held  a 
copyright  upon  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  to  the  title  page  of 
the  Bible  had  been  added  this  clause,  "Printed  by  the  Authority 
of  His  Majesty,  King  George  III."  But  before  the  Revolution 
had  ended,  so  bitter  was  the  hatred  against  their  sovereign,  that 
one  of  our  deacons  actually  tore  out  these  obnoxious  words  from 
the  title  page  of  his  Bible,  and  others  doubtless  followed  his  ex- 
ample. 

Li  1767  fresh  complications  arose  from  England's  attempt 
to  levy  a  tax  upon  all  the  tea,  glass  and  paint  brought  to  Amer- 
ica. In  this  juncture,  covenants  for  the  Non-importation  of 
British  Goods  were  promptly  circulated  and  signed,  both  here 
and  elsewhere,  but  these  promises  were  not  always  kept.  Build- 
ing windowless  houses  was  not  to  be  thought  of,  and  glass  was 
one  of  the  prohibited  articles ;  for  Parliament  had,  with  cunning 
foresight,  taxed  the  very  things  that  were  considered  in- 
dispensable.   People  soon  began  to  retaliate  by  eating  less  meat, 


140  IN^  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

lamb  and  mutton,  thus  increasing  the  number  of  sheep  and 
avoiding  the  necessity  of  importing  wool  from  England.  Tra- 
dition tells  us  that  some  of  the  dwellers  south  of  Mt.  Holyoke, 
in  their  patriotic  zeal,  used  the  flesh  of  the  woodchuck  as  a 
substitute  for  mutton. 

Public  opinion  was  plainly  indexed  by  the  action  of  Harvard 
College.  Though  many  of  the  students  were  the  sons  of  rich 
men,  and  possessed  clothing  of  the  finest  broadcloth,  and  the 
long,  silk  stockings  so  universally  worn,  yet  the  senior  class  of 
1768,  in  order  to  show  that  they  could  dispense  with  English 
luxuries,  voted  to  graduate  in  suits  of  homespun,  and  carried 
their  resolution  into  effect. 

As  a  result  of  the  popular  indignation,  the  tax  bill  was 
later  on  rescinded;  the  duty  upon  tea,  however,  being  still  re- 
tained. 

In  1770,  another  piece  of  British  jurisprudence  fanned  into 
flame  the  smoldering  embers  of  Colonial  wrath.  South  Hadley 
had  always  been  famous  for  the  multiplicity  of  its  town  meet- 
ings. If  there  was  a  dispute  in  regard  to  the  location  of  a  new 
church,  or  a  quarrel  over  the  seating  of  the  meeting  house,  the 
records  show  that  they  were  willing  to  hold  two  a  week  if  neces- 
sary, although  in  cold  weather  they  were  sometimes  glad  to  ad- 
journ to  the  schoolhouse  or  tavern  for  their  discussions.  Now 
they  found  themselves  forbidden  to  call  any  town  meetings 
unless  they  had  first  obtained  the  consent  of  the  Eoyal  Governor ; 
even  then  they  could  hold  but  one  meeting  a  year,  and  that  sim- 
ply for  the  election  of  officers.  But  if  the  Governor  chose  he 
could  order  another  one  to  be  held. 

Then,  too,  our  town  had  for  fifteen  years  been  in  the  habit 
of  drawing  its  jurors  by  the  same  method  in  use  at  the  present 
day.  Now  they  were  informed  that  by  direction  of  the  Crown,  a 
sheriff  appointed  by  the  Governor  would  select  his  own  jury. 

During  the  following  year  South  Hadley  was  ordered  to 
hold  a  second  town  meeting,  because  at  the  first  one,  "the  offi- 
cers did  not  take  the  oath  respecting  other  government  money." 
Also  Dr.  Woodbridge  and  Eleazer  Goodman  had  not  been  sworn 
into  their  offices. 


1^  >I 


^^^-i^V, 


'^^s^^i^ 


CUJ^.    HIGGLES    WOODBRIDGE 


SOUTH    HADLEY    IX    THE    EEVOLrTIOX  111 

Doctor  Benjamin  Enggles  Woodbridge  appears  to  have 
been  at  this  time  the  acknowledged  head  of  the  Liberty  Party. 
He  was  a  man  in  the  very  prime  of  life,  well  educated,  and  a 
clever  and  original  thinker.  His  keen,  penetrating  eyes  seemed 
to  read  one's  very  thoughts,  but  his  smile  was  gentle  and  win- 
ning. He  was  a  firm  disciplinarian  and  was  made  a  colonel  dur- 
ing the  first  few  months  of  the  war,  but  was  never  arbitrary, 
and  kept  both  the  respect  and  love  of  his  soldiers. 

In  process  of  time  a  new  covenant  for  the  Xon-consump- 
tion  of  British  Goods  was  prepared,  and  Colonel  Woodbridge 
began  to  hold  Liberty  Meetings  in  the  towns  about  us.  Li  one 
of  these,  an  evening  meeting  at  which  he  presided,  he  awakened 
such  enthusiasm  that  the  next  morning  several  of  the  leading 
citizens  hastily  prepared  a  covenant,  and  carried  it  to  their 
minister  for  his  signature. 

After  reading  it  he  told  the  committee  that  he  objected  to 
signing  it  because  there  was  no  recognition  of  God  in  it,  the 
name  of  the  Deity  not  occurring  even  once.  Flushed  with  ex- 
citement, his  parishioners  said,  threateningly,  "^e  tell  you 
plainly,  that  if  you  do  not  sign  this  paper,  you  will  be  con- 
sidered and  treated  as  an  enemy  of  your  country''  (the  latter 
phrase  being  the  shibboleth  of  the  Whigs,  and  the  dread  of  the 
Tories).  The  parson  was  not  a  tall  man,  but  at  these  words  he 
fairly  towered.  "This,"  he  cried,  "is  not  Liberty,  but  Tyranny, 
and  I  doubt  if  King  George  himself  would  be  more  tyrannical.'' 
The  matter  was  finally  compromised  by  his  writing  on  the  paper 
his  reason  for  not  signing,  and  adding  that  he  was  a  friend  to 
the  country  and  should  aid  it  by  every  means  in  his  power.  And 
in  coming  years  nobly  did  he  redeem  his  promise. 

Ebeuezer  Stoddard,  one  of  South  Hadley's  soldiers,  had 
resisted  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  a  deputy  sheriff  to  arrest 
him.  The  following  extract  from  the  warrant  shows  how  the 
minutest  matters  were  referred  to  the  Eong:  "He  did  then 
and  there  resist,  oppose  and  hinder  the  said  sheriff'  of  the  due 
execution  of  his  ojfice,  all  which  is  contrary  to  Law.  and  Peace 
of  the  said  Lord  the  King,  his  Crown  and  Dignity"  *  *  ^ 
"Being  put  to  plead,  he  says  that  he  will  not  contend  with  the 


142  m  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

King,  and  he  submits  himself  to  the  King's  grace.  The  Court 
having  considered  of  the  Offense,  do  order  that  the  said  Eben- 
ezer  pay  a  Fine  of  twenty  shillings  for  his  Majesty's  use;  and 
cost  of  Prosecution,  taxed  at  one  pound,  twelve  shillings  and 
two  pence." 

Everybody  had  been  taught,  from  their  childhood  up,  to 
honor  the  King.  If  his  Majesty  died,  funeral  sermons  were 
preached  as  soon  as  the  news  reached  this  part  of  the  country. 
''God  save  the  King!"  was  heard  in  both  home  and  sanctuary, 
and  it  was  hard  for  the  older  people  to  unlearn  in  a  moment  the 
teaching  of  years. 

The  whole  trend  of  public  opinion  was  now  changed.  In 
Harvard  College  the  students  had  always  been  ranked,  not  ac- 
cording to  their  scholastic  attainments,  but  in  the  order  of  their 
social  standing.  The  sons  of  rich  and  influential  men  could 
have  the  best  rooms,  help  themselves  first  at  table,  and  sit  in 
the  highest  places  at  chapel.  Now  they  were  to  be  catalogued 
alphabetically,  and  the  rod  of  correction  would  pay  no  regard 
to  caste,  whatever  might  be  said  of  the  prayer  which  was  ex- 
pected to  precede  or  follow  the  whipping,  when  profanity  on 
the  part  of  a  student  was  to  be  punished.  It  was  now  apparent 
that  the  leveling  of  social  distinctions  had  begun  in  earnest. 

England  had  found  her  experiment  of  taxing  the  Colonies 
a  costly  one.  For  every  dollar  of  revenue  that  she  had  received, 
she  had  expended  more  than  a  hundred  times  that  amount.  She 
had  quartered  her  soldiers  upon  the  citizens  of  Boston,  with  a 
demand  that  they  should  be  supplied  with  ''Food  and  lodging, 
cheese  and  rum."  "Nothing  to  eat,  drink  or  wear  from  Great 
Britain"  had  been  our  country's  response;  even  the  custom  of 
wearing  mourning  for  the  dead  had  been  in  a  measure  aban- 
doned, since  much  of  the  black  cloth  in  use  had  been  imported. 

South  Hadley  had  appointed  a  Committee  of  Inspection, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  visit  from  house  to  house  in  order  to  for- 
bid all  use  of  East  India  tea.  It  had  been  customary  here,  if  a 
neighbor  called  in  the  afternoon,  to  greet  her  with  the  words, 
"How  do  you  do?  Won't  you  take  off  your  things,  and  stay  to 
tea  1 ' '    The  word  ' '  supper ' '  was  unknown  in  polite  vocabularies. 


SOUTH    HADLEY    IN   THE    EEVOLUTION  143 

Substitutes  for  the  "cup  that  cheers  but  not  inebriates"  must 
be  found.  Every  garden  had  its  patch  of  currant  and  goose- 
berry bushes,  the  leaves  of  which  were  dried  and  steeped,  mak- 
ing a  drink  called  "Hyperion."  There  was  a  plant  named  Lab- 
rador Tea,  whose  blossom  resembled  that  of  hard  hack,  and 
this  also  was  in  popular  use  as  a  beverage.  Infusions  of  spear- 
mint, pennyroyal,  or  sage  often  appeared  at  the  evening  meal, 
though  the  latter  was  thought  to  savor  too  much  of  illness. 

On  December  16,  1773,  matters  were  brought  to  a  crisis  by 
the  action  of  a  party  of  young  men,  of  whom  Dr.  A.  J.  Miller,  for 
many  years  a  resident  physician  of  South  Hadley,  was  one.  At 
this  time  three  ships  laden  with  tea  had  entered  Boston  Harbor. 
Dr.  Miller  was,  at  this  time,  probably  a  student  in  Harvard 
College,  and  on  that  memorable  night  he  and  a  score  or  more  of 
his  associates  banded  themselves  together  in  order  to  throw 
this  cargo  overboard.  Before  starting,  everyone  pledged  him- 
self to  the  undertaking,  agreeing  that  if  any  one  of  their  num- 
ber flinched  he  should  be  thrown  overboard  with  the  tea.  In 
silence  they  proceeded  to  their  work.  Some  of  them  tried  to 
secrete  a  small  portion  of  the  Old  Hyson  to  carry  home  with 
them,  but  as  soon  as  this  was  discovered,  jackknives  were  out 
and  the  pockets  slitted  open.  Dr.  Miller  contrived  to  bring  away 
a  handful,  which  was  preserved  as  a  souvenir  for  over  a  hun- 
dred and  thirty  years,  and  then  lost  through  the  blunder  of  a 
careless  servant. 

After  this  episode,  things  went  from  bad  to  worse.  The 
courts  were  prevented  from  sitting,  and  mobbing  and  rioting 
ensued.  An  old  diary,  written  May  1, 1777,  states  that  no  courts 
had  been  held  in  this  vicinity  since  September,  1773,  and  adds, 
"Lived  without  the  exercise  of  law  for  four  years,  and  made  it 
do  pretty  well." 

Our  town  had  certainly  cause  to  be  proud  of  its  compara- 
tive freedom  from  disorders,  while  the  towns  about  us  were  rent 
by  internal  strife.  There  was  one  exception  to  this  rule.  Joseph 
Ashley,  the  hated  spy  and  informer,  avowed  himself  a  Tory, 
upon  which,  as  we  learn,  the  people  "made  it  so  hot  for  him 
that  he  was  obliged  to  flee  to  New  York."    There  were  others 


144  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

here  who  espoused  the  cause  of  Great  Britain,  but  most  of  these 
chose  a  home  in  Halifax,  where  the  King  had  promised  them 
protection,  and  offered  to  each  the  gift  of  a  farm.  Very  possibly 
some  of  them  were  mobbed  while  here,  and  forbidden  to  partake 
of  the  sacrament  at  communion,  at  all  events,  their  social  ostra- 
cism drove  them  to  Nova  Scotia. 

The  town  was  certainly  making  a  great  effort  to  preserve 
good  order.  A  Committee  of  Safety  had  been  previously  ap- 
pointed, and  about  six  weeks  before  the  Battle  of  Lexington  a 
second  one  was  chosen,  composed  of  ''sober  and  discreet  per- 
sons, who  shall  suppress  mobs,  quiet  disturbances  between 
neighbor  and  neighbor,  and  shall  give  assistance  to  the  towns 
about  us  if  they  shall  be  asked."  It  was  also  voted  that  if  any 
person  should  be  found  assisting  any  "mobbish,  tumultuous  or 
riotous  company,  without  first  informing  this  committee  and 
obtaining  their  approbation  (which  is  not  to  be  granted  except 
in  cases  of  extreme  necessity),  they  should  forfeit  the  assist- 
ance and  protection  of  their  neighbors,  should  it  afterwards  be 
needed,  in  their  own  defense,  and  they  should  never  be  consid- 
ered eligible  to  any  office  of  trust  in  this  town." 

It  would  appear  from  the  accounts  given  by  the  old  people 
of  South  Hadley,  that  the  visits  of  the  mob  were  for  the  purpose 
of  insulting  the  Tories,  rather  than  that  of  injuring  their  prop- 
erty, though  in  the  excitement  of  the  raid  many  things  were 
done  which  upon  sober  second  thought  were  greatly  to  be  re- 
gretted. To  the  mobbings  were  brought  horns,  drums,  pewter 
pans,  anything  that  would  make  a  jangle  of  discordant  notes. 
But  the  chief  musical  instrument  was  termed  a  horse-fiddle.  It 
was  prepared  by  stringing  across  the  top  of  an  empty  wooden 
box  hempen  cords  covered  with  rosin.  A  bow  was  prepared  in  a 
similar  manner,  and  the  harsh  grating  of  one  upon  the  other,  as 
it  was  played  by  its  two  performers,  caused  so  horrible  a  sound 
that  it  defies  description.  After  the  din  had  been  kept  up  for 
some  hours,  usually  till  about  midnight,  the  rioters  dispersed. 
There  were  occasions  upon  which  the  owner  of  the  house  came 
out  with  a  club  and  drove  them  off,  but  these  were  rare. 


SOUTH    HADLEY    IN    THE    REVOLUTION  145 

These  bitter  animosities  had  brought  dissensions  into  neigh- 
borhoods, and  disunion  into  families. 

Poor  old  Jonathan  Selden!  Next  to  our  six  pioneers,  he 
had  been  one  of  the  very  earliest  settlers  south  of  Mt.  Holyoke. 
He  had  been  taught  to  reverence  ''Our  Lord  the  King,"  as  sec- 
ond only  to  Deity,  and  disobedience  to  his  commands  was  in  the 
eyes  of  Selden  a  sin.  He  was  so  pronounced  in  his  opinions 
that  six  months  after  our  first  volunteers  started  for  the  army 
he  was  lodged  in  Northampton  jail,  where  he  died  nearly  eight 
months  later.  He  must  have  inculcated  in  his  children  a  love  of 
country,  for  his  son  and  namesake  enlisted  and  fought  as  a 
soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 

A  very  common  method  of  punishing  Tories  was  by  con- 
fining them  to  their  own  farms,  which  they  were  never  per- 
mitted to  leave  except  in  order  to  attend  church  service  and 
funerals.  Upon  these  occasions  they  were  forbidden  to  have 
any  conversation  with  others,  either  before  or  after  the  exer- 
cises. This  proceeding  sometimes  bore  bitter  fruit  in  after 
years.  Several  of  our  leading  citizens  still  tell  the  story  of  their 
ancestor,  Mr.  Consider  T. ,  whose  unjust  treatment  dark- 
ened his  whole  life.  He  was  a  devoted  member  of  the  Church 
of  England,  and  came  to  this  country  simply  for  commercial 
reasons.  He  settled  in  Connecticut,  purchasing  a  large  farm. 
Believing  as  he  did  that  the  King  was  the  head  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church,  rebellion  seemed  to  him  like  the  most  wicked 
of  conflicts.  He  having  expressed  this  opinion,  the  selectmen 
ordered  him  not  to  pass  the  boundaries  of  his  own  land  under 
pain  of  imprisonment  in  the  county  jail.  Fifteen  months  later 
they  released  him  from  restraint,  but  he  refused  their  offer  in 
these  words:  "I  am,  and  always  was,  a  sincere  friend  of  Amer- 
ica, but  if  I  had  the  same  opinion  of  the  United  States  that  I 
have  of  this  town,  I  should  think  it  my  duty  to  do  my  utmost  to 
have  them  subdued.  *  *  *  i  would  further  tell  you  I  re- 
tain the  same  principles  that  I  had  four  years  ago,  don't  mean 
to  hurt  any  man,  and  am  content  to  remain  in  my  own  business, 
and  happy  in  not  seeing  the  faces  of  my  implacable  enemies. 
Therefore,  please  so  use  your  endeavors  that  I  may  remain 


146  IX  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

happy  as  I  now  am.  and  you  will  oblige  your  old  friend — Con- 
sider T. ' '  He  lived  nearly  forty  years  after  this,  but  never  went 
beyond  the  boundaries  of  his  own  farm. 

During  the  night  which  preceded  "Wednesday.  April  19, 
1775,  the  tocsin  of  war  was  sounded  upon  all  the  church  bells 
from  Boston  to  Lexington,  and  the  deep-toned  cannon  confirmed 
the  alarm.  Xo  sooner  did  Charleston  catch  the  warning  gleam 
of  the  lantern  in  the  belfry  of  the  Old  X^orth  Church,  than 
mounted  horsemen  were  sent  in  hot  haste  to  warn  the  country. 
The  messenger  despatched  to  Western  Massachusetts  directed 
the  people  of  Belchertown  to  send  a  courier  to  G-ranby  and 
South  Hadley,  while  he  continued  his  journey  to  Amherst.  Had- 
ley  and  X^orthampton. 

We  can  picture  to  ourselves  the  best  rider  and  most  ardent 
patriot  of  Cold  Spring  traversing  the  rough  track,  called  the 
Pichawamache  Eoad,  shouting  to  the  farmer  in  his  field,  and  the 
housewife  standing  in  her  kitchen  door.  ''To  anns!  to  arms!" 
How  it  must  have  gladdened  his  heart  when  the  athletic  John 
Lane  responded,  "I  will  go." 

Down  the  steep  side  of  Cold  HiU,  now  changed  and  leveled 
beyond  recognition,  he  passed  at  its  base  the  house  of  Deacon 
David  Xash.  Here  was  another  volunteer,  and  a  little  beyond, 
John  Marshall's  heart  warmed  to  the  cry. 

Arriving  at  the  Center,  the  messenger  went  at  once  to  the 
Woodbridge  parsonage.  The  news  was  quickly  made  known  by 
the  beating  of  drums  and  the  firing  of  guns,  the  former  giving 
that  long,  loud  roll  that  told  the  minute  men  it  was  a  call  for 
volunteers.    South  Hadley  had  not  been  caught  napping. 

The  town  had  voted  during  tbe  previous  year  that  they  were 
willing  to  •  •  raise  and  pay  men  for  the  army. ' '  They  had  ordered 
every  man  to  keep  weapons  and  ammunition  in  his  house.  Car- 
tridge boxes  had  been  purchased  and  were  now  held  in  stock. 
The  militia  had  been  exercised  on  training  days,  but  the  minute 
men  had  met  for  an  extra  half  day  in  every  week,  in  order  to 
learn  the  art  of  war,  each  one  of  them  being  paid  for  his  time. 
Xow,  under  the  alert  leadership  of  Colonel  Euggles  Woodbridge, 
provision  enough  to  last  three  days  was  hastily  prepared,  the 


SOUTH    HADLEY    IX    THE    EEVOLrTIOX  147 

gTins  put  in  order,  and  on  the  following  day,  Thursday,  over  a 
hundred  men  from  Belehertown,  Granby  and  South  Hadley 
set  forth  on  their  march  to  Lexington. 

Among  the  volunteers  from  this  tawn  was  Peter  Pender- 
grass,  a  legacy  left  to  us  by  the  British  army  after  the  close  of 
the  last  French  and  Indian  "War.  He  had  come  to  our  town, 
married  a  young  woman  named  Abial,  a  church  member,  and 
they,  with  their  only  son,  James,  lived  in  a  tiny  dwelling  on  the 
site  now  occupied  by  the  house  of  W.  H.  Jewett,  on  Hadley  street. 
Life  had  not  gone  well  with  him,  and  a  kind  deacon  who  had 
moved  from  here  to  Granby  sheltered  him  and  his  family  for  a 
year.  The  events  of  April  19  awoke  the  old  war  fever,  and  in- 
stead of  turning  back  with  the  others,  when  a  messenger  met 
them  with  the  news  that  they  were  no  longer  needed,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Cambridge  with  Captain  Moses  Montague  and  Colonel 
Woodbridge.  accompanied  also  by  two  or  three  of  our  minute 
men.  Peaching  Cambridge,  he  found  a  fine,  large  house,  whose 
Tory  owner  had  fled  to  the  British  camp.  Here  he  established 
himself  in  luxurious  quarters,  little  dreaming  that  twenty-five 
years  later  he  would  be  set  up  at  vendue  as  a  town  pauper  and 
struck  off  to  one  of  our  good  deacons  at  fifty  cents  per  week. 

Before  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  Colonel  Woodbridge  and 
Peter  had  joined  the  camp  in  Eoxbury.  A  part  of  their  regi- 
ment fought  in  that  memorable  conflict,  but  though  they  could 
see  the  smoke  and  hear  the  cannon  they  were,  themselves,  too 
far  away  to  take  part  in  the  engagement. 

During  the  following  November,  word  was  sent  here  that 
the  poor  of  Boston  were  suffering  for  lack  of  food  and  clothing. 
A  town  meeting  was  called  and  a  committee  appointed  to  col- 
lect donations.  A  requisition  for  blankets  to  be  used  in  the 
army  also  met  with  quick  response.  The  TThigs  gave  willingly, 
and  often  more  than  they  could  well  afford  to  spare.  If  a  Tory 
refused  to  produce  his  hidden  store  of  new  blankets  this  com- 
mittee straightway  helped  themselves  to  those  already  in  use. 

In  our  northern  army  the  long  marches  had  so  worn  out  both 
shoes  and  stockings  that  the  footsteps  of  our  men  left  their 
crimson  imprint  upon  the  Canadian  ice  and  snow,  and  mes- 


148  IX  OU)  SOrTH  HADLEY 

sengers  were  despatched  to  Massaclmsetts  in  order  to  make 
knr^r:!  zheir  imperative  need.  Letters  could  not  be  nsed  to 
'  :^  :se  information,  sinc-e  at  this  time  each  state  had  on  an 
ci.  riage  bnt  six  postomces  in  its  whole  area.  The  only  place 
where  the  scattered  population  could  easily  be  reached  was  at 
the  meeting  house,  and  the  Sunday  service  was  often  intermpted 
by  the  eomiiig  of  a  horseman,  charged  with  the  duty  of  trans- 
ndttine  intelligence. 

It  was  the  custom  of  Bev.  Mr.  Woodbridge  on  every  Sabbath 
morning  to  give  a  summary  of  the  latest  news  from  the  army. 
Springfield  was  our  recruiting  station,  and  whoever  went  there 
on  business  was  expected  to  call  at  the  minister's  house  on  his 
return  and  rep»eat  all  that  he  had  learned  regarding  the  progress 
of  the  war. 

In  front  of  the  wooden  desk,  which  at  that  time  served  as  a 
pulpit,  sat  Deacon  Daniel  Moody  and  Deacon  David  Xash.  their 
pew  being  on  a  raised  platform,  facing  the  congregation.  It  was 
their  duty,  in  case  the  minister  had  "exchanged."  to  introduce 
the  new  preacher  to  the  audience,  and  they  had  also  been  ap- 
pointed to  receive  on  every  Lord's  Day  gifts  for  the  soldiers. 

When  the  clank  of  a  horseman  was  heard  without,  Mr.  Wood- 
bridge  paused  in  his  sermon  and  at  the  entrance  of  the  messen- 
ger said,  with  a  courtly  bow.  "Brother,  if  you  have  any  message 
for  my  i)eople,  say  on."  And  when  the  pitiful  story  had  been 
told,  we  may  well  believe  that  for  days  to  come  spinning  wheels 
hummed,  and  knitting  needles  clicked  in  answer  to  this  appeaL 

In  one  of  the  towns  reached  by  a  courier  during  the  morning 
sermon,  all  the  women,  with  the  consent  of  the  minister,  re- 
mained at  home  that  afternoon  in  order  to  spin  and  knit  for  the 
suffer!:!?  nen  at  St.  Johns.  "Mercy  is  better  than  sacrifice," 
said  the  pastor,  in  explanation  of  his  act. 

Xor  were  the  men  less  patriotic.  After  the  close  of  the  war 
it  was  said  that,  excepting  the  ministers,  there  was  hardly  an 
able-bodied  man  in  either  Granby  or  South  Hadley  who  had 
not  served  in  the  army.  This  had  been  made  possible  by  a  ro- 
tation in  enlistment.  Xo  sooner  had  a  soldier  started  for  camp 
than  his  neiarhbors  assumed  the  responsibility  of  caring  for  his 


SOUTH    HADLEY    IN   THE    REVOLUTION  149 

farm.  In  case  no  son  was  old  enough  to  milk  and  "fodder,"  it 
was  expected  that  the  women  of  the  household  would  attend  to 
those  duties.  But  at  planting  time,  the  volunteer's  land  must 
be  ploughed  for  him  before  any  other,  and  when  his  grass  was 
ready  for  the  scjihe,  a  mowing  bee  was  appointed,  for  his  hay- 
ing must  be  done  before  the  rest  began  theirs.  Later  on  the 
town  voted  that  they  would  provide  ''For  those  women  and 
their  families  whose  husbands  were  in  the  continental  army. ' ' 

In  order  that  those  who  were  dependent  upon  the  kindness 
of  others  should  be  as  evenly  distributed  as  possible  throughout 
the  town,  when  a  draft  of  seven  men  was  called  for,  South  Had- 
ley  was  divided  into  seven  districts,  and  one  man  was  chosen  by 
lot  from  each  district. 

The  first  person  south  of  the  mountain  who  sacrificed  his 
life  to  the  cause  of  liberty  was  Lieut.  Eleazer  Nash.  He  lived 
in  Moody  Corner,  a  few  rods  east  of  the  Granby  line,  and  though 
he  was  already  in  his  fifty-sixth  year,  enlisted  at  the  call  of  Lex- 
ington and  set  off  the  next  morning.  He  may  have  taken  a 
chill  from  sleeping  on  the  damp  ground,  for  he  returned  with  a 
hard  cold ;  inflammation  of  the  lungs  set  in,  and  within  a  month 
he  had  passed  away.  There  must  have  been  some  bitter  self- 
reproach  among  those  overzealous  Whigs  who  had,  six  weeks 
before,  tried  to  bring  disgrace  upon  his  name.  Some  of  the 
towns  about  us  had  been  building  bonfires,  and  feeding  the  flames 
with  the  military  commissions  issued  by  Governor  Hutchison 
and  General  Gage  some  years  before.  Captain  William  Eastman, 
Lieutenant  Eleazer  Nash  and  Ensign  Experience  Smith  do  not 
appear  to  have  shared  in  the  wild  excitement  that  dominated  this 
section,  and  a  town  meeting  was  called  on  March  6,  1775,  to  con- 
sider their  cases.  At  this  time  Lieutenant  Nash,  being  asked  to 
speak,  replied,  in  answer  to  their  questions,  "I  have  no  desire, 
intention,  or  design  to  act  from  any  authority  by  virtue  of  my 
commission,  and  further  I  never  will."  "Ensign  Smith  de- 
clared that  he  acquiesced  in  the  above  declaration  made  by  Lieu- 
tenant Nash."  Captain  William  Eastman  said  that  he  "Would 
never  exercise  any  authority  of  his  commission  until  such  time 


150  IX  OLD  SOUTH  H.IDLEY 

as  the  controversy  subsisting  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
colonies  was  settled." 

For  some  nnkaown  reason  these  answers  were  not  con- 
sidered satisfactory,  bnt  the  matter  seemed  to  have  been 
dropped.  Lieutenant  Xash  died.  Ensign  Smith  left  town,  and 
Deacon  William  Eastman,  who  forty  years  before  was  the  first 
clerk  of  onr  South  Hadley  church,  was  mobbed  and  called  an 
enemy  of  his  country.  But  he  moved  serenely  on  in  the  even 
tenor  of  his  way.  and  a  few  years  later  Granby.  recognizing  his 
soimd  judgment,  honesty  of  purpose  and  sincere  patriotism, 
sent  him  as  her  delegate  to  assist  in  formulating  our  state  con- 
stitution- 

An  entry  in  the  records  of  Eev.  Joel  Hayes,  our  third  minis- 
ter, states  that  on  June  S.  17S6.  he  married  Samuel  TThite  and 
Eunice  Eastman.  There  was  a  curious  romance  connected  with 
this  item.  A  brother  of  Deacon  TTilliam  Eastman,  called  the 
squire,  lived  at  Granby  Five  Comers,  in  the  heuse  now  occupied 
by  Henry  Moody.  Samuel  White,  then  a  youth  of  fifteen,  called 
at  the  house  one  day,  when  Squire  Eastman  said,  jocosely, 
'  •  Samuel,  if  you  will  go  to  the  war  and  return  all  right  you  may 
marry  any  one  of  my  daughters. ' '  We  quote  the  sequel.  ' "  Samuel 
White  was  only  fifteen  years  of  age  when  he  enlisted,  and  being 
under  the  regulation  height,  was  obhged  to  stand  on  tiptoe  when 
measTired  at  the  mustering  in.  The  father  of  the  young  patriot 
also  enlisted  with  him.  The  first  whiter  of  the  campaign  had  not 
passed  when  the  elder  White  froze  both  Ms  feet,  and  was  obliged 
to  return  home,  where  his  wounds  failed  to  respond  to  treat- 
ment, and  he  died.  The  son  went  through  the  service  without 
injury,  and  when  the  war  cry  of  1812  sounded  he  was  among 
the  first  to  respond,  raising  a  company  of  which  he  was  made 
captain." 

PreviotLS  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence  there  had  been 
LQ  the  vicinity  of  Springfield  what  the  old  people  called  a  "Xest 
of  Tories."  Their  secret  headquarters  were  said  to  have  been 
in  West  Springfield.  If  any  continental  officer  of  rank  came 
home  on  a  furlough  his  house  was  liable  to  be  suddenly  raided  by 
men  who  sought  his  capture. 


SOUTH    HADLZY    IX    THE    EEVOLUTIOX  151 

At  "West  Parish  Four  Comers,  in  Granby.  a  little  to  the 
southeast,  rises  an  elevation  of  land  called  Phin's  Hill.  At  the 
time  of  the  Stamp  Act.  Phineas.  son  of  our  pioneer.  Chileab 
Smith,  vras  living  on  the  present  Woodbridge  street  in  South 
Hadlev.  Before  1775  he  had  built  a  house  upon  and  removed  to 
the  eminence,  named  in  his  honor.  He  was  one  of  those  "who 
answered  "present"  to  the  call  of  Lexington,  and  his  son  David, 
afterwards  Major  Smith,  enlisted  on  his  eighteenth  birthday. 
The  widow  of  the  latter  died  in  South  Hadley  in  June.  1$50.  and 
the  following  incidents  were  related  to  the  author  by  her.  When 
Captain  Phineas  Smith  joined  the  army  in  1776  he  took  with  him 
a  young  and  very  strong  horse.  When  a  colt  it  had  always  been 
allowed,  once  every  day.  to  walk  up  the  stone  steps  and  enter 
the  kitchen  door  in  order  to  eat  the  piece  of  rye  bread  which 
was  always  saved  for  it.  One  day.  Captain  Phineas  having  been 
granted  a  short  furlough,  set  out  for  home.  Passing  through 
West  Springneld  his  horse  was  possibly  recognized  by  the  tories. 
and  a  party  of  them  started  in  pursnit.  Before  he  had  been  at 
home  a  scant  half  hour  his  wife,  chancing  to  pass  the  open  win- 
dow of  the  "keeping  room,''  saw  them  just  fastening  their 
horses  under  a  large  cherry  tree  that  stood  close  by.  Part  of 
the  tories  went  to  the  rear  of  the  house  in  order  to  watch  that 
side,  while  the  others  went  to  the  front  door,  which  was,  fortu- 
nately, barred.  They  pounded  it  loudly  with  their  fists,  crying 
out.  ''Open  in  the  name  of  the  King  I  Open  in  the  name  of  the 
King!"  While  his  wife  unbarred  the  door  Captain  Phineas 
leaped  from  the  window  and.  jumping  upon  one  of  their  horses, 
climbed  to  the  top  of  the  cherry  tree,  whose  dense  foliage 
screened  him  from  any  but  the  closest  observation.  The  tories 
searched  the  house  from  garret  to  cellar :  they  pulled  the  feather 
beds  to  the  floor  and  trampled  upon  them  as  they  thrust  their 
swords  into  the  ticks  of  the  straw  beds,  and.  in  the  language  of 
Mrs.  Smith.  "They  even  looked  in  the  bureau  drawers."  After 
their  departure  Captain  Smith  descended  from  the  tree,  and  as 
soon  as  dusk  had  fallen,  mounted  his  horse  and  returned  to 
camp,  for  he  had  heard  them  say.  "He  has  probably  stopped 
somewhere  on  the  wav :  we  will  come  asrain  after  dark. ' ' 


152  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

Later  on  his  wife,  looking  one  day  from  a  window,  saw  in 
the  distance  a  black  speck  which  appeared  to  be  followed  by  a 
dark  spot,  the  latter  constantly  gaining  upon  the  former.  Some 
intuition  told  her  that  it  was  her  husband  upon  a  tired  horse, 
pursued  by  tories  upon  fresh  ones.  She  hastily  collected  the 
guns,  pushed  the  heavy  oak  shutters  across  the  windows,  then, 
with  a  sudden  inspiration,  ran  to  the  kitchen  door  and,  taking 
off  her  apron,  shook  it  frantically.  They  were  now  all  ascend- 
ing the  steep  hill,  and  almost  abreast  of  one  another.  By  some 
subtle  telepathy  her  husband  caught  at  her  idea  and  waved  his 
hand  reassuringly.  Entering  the  dooryard  together,  two  tories 
slipped  from  their  horses  ready  to  grasp  the  Captain  as  he 
alighted,  but  to  their  surprise  he  rode  his  horse  straight  up  the 
steps  into  the  kitchen,  whose  door  clanged  together  an  instant 
after.  The  house  was  now  like  a  little  fort  and  the  baffled  tories, 
fearing  that  the  firing  of  guns  would  alarm  the  neighborhood, 
decided  that  "Discretion  was  the  better  part  of  valor,"  and 
speedily  withdrew. 

This  was  about  the  time  when  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence was  signed,  and  that  event  caused  many  of  the  tories  to 
seek  other  homes  for  themselves  upon  English  soil. 

Early  in  the  year  Eev.  Mr.  Woodbridge  had  read  from  the 
pulpit  a  proclamation  sent  by  the  General  Court  at  Boston, 
which  asserted  that  we  owed  no  obedience  to  Parliament  nor  to 
the  royal  governors,  who  had  abrogated  our  charter,  but  it  en- 
treated all  officers,  from  judge  to  tithing-man,  to  suppress  all 
disorders  and  immoralities,  and  directed  the  congregations  to  be 
faithful  in  their  attendance  at  divine  service.  This  proclama- 
tion omitted  the  customary  ''God  save  the  King,"  and  substi- 
tuted ''God  save  the  people."  It  was  also  read  at  our  annual 
town  meeting. 

A  second  proclamation  called  for  a  meeting  to  be  held  for 
the  sake  of  obtaining  our  "Concurrence  in  declaring  the  Inde- 
pendence of  the  Colonies."  This  was  called  for  June  20,  1776, 
and  South  Hadley  at  that  time  "voted  in  the  affirmative  by  a 
great  majority."  Five  days  later  their  sincerity  was  put  to  the 
test,  for  an  order  came  from  the  General  Court  that  twelve 


SOUTH    HADLEY    IN    THE    EEVOLUTION  153 

men  should  go  from  our  town  to  reinforce  the  troops  in  Canada, 
and  each  man  must  carry  with  him  provisions  for  the  journey,  a 
blanket,  and  other  accouterments.  There  were  at  this  time  about 
eighty  families  living  here,  and  before  the  close  of  the  war  each 
had,  upon  an  average,  sent  two  of  its  members  into  the  army. 

During  the  succeeding  year  the  call  for  volunteers  grew 
more  and  more  imperative,  but  the  response  came  promptly  and 
cheerfully.  One  of  these  recruits  was  Josiah  Draper,  our  Fall 
Woods  schoolmaster,  to  whom  reference  has  been  made  in  pre- 
ceding chapters.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  keeping  a  daily  journal 
of  his  doings,  and  this  diary  now  enjoys  the  rare  distinction 
of  being,  so  far  as  is  known,  the  only  one  still  in  existence,  that 
was  kept  by  a  private  of  the  Revolutionary  Army.  A  messenger 
had  come  asking  for  men  to  aid  in  opposing  the  march  of  Bur- 
goyne,  and  if  possible  to  attack  his  army  in  the  rear.  For  this 
service,  Josiah  Draper  and  others  in  the  town  volunteered.  Some 
extracts  here  and  there  from  his  journal  may  prove  to  be  of 
interest ;  and  though  his  orthography  might  have  made  poor  old 
Lindley  Murray  blush  for  him,  yet  he  was  for  those  times  an 
unusually  clever  man. 

''Sept.  12,  1777.  Set  out  from  South  Hadley  at  two  o'clock, 
the  day  of  enlistment.  Stayed  over  night  at  S.  Judds."  "Sept. 
13.  Had  a  breakfast  of  coffee,  rost  pig,  punkin  pie,  cheese,  and 
butter.  Sold  my  Snuff  Bottel."  "Sept.  19.  Paid  a  man  six 
shillings  for  carrjdng  my  pack  to  Ruperts. "  "  Sept.  20.  Yester- 
day wrote  a  letter  to  send  home.  Sent  it  to-day.  Had  a  fine 
chicken  stew,  eat  hearty.    The  old  wolf  (Burgoyne)  is  gone." 

Sept.  26,  he  reached  Ticonderoga  and  was  put  upon  guard 
duty,  the  countersign  being  'America.' 

"Oct.  18.  I  wrote  a  letter  to  Captain  Clark.  One  of  ye 
Deserters  Court-Marsheled."  "Oct.  19.  The  man  was  whipt, 
belongs  to  Col.  Brewers  Regiment,  thirty  lashes  for  Desertion." 
"Sunday,  Oct.  20.  Mr.  Throop  preached  from  'What  is  Man?'  " 

"Nov.  26.  Dismissed  to  open  my  school.  Sold  my  Brass 
Buckles  for  five  shillings.    Set  out  for  Home." 

He  walked  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  miles  in  eight  days  on 
his  wav  back. 


154  I^N"  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 


a 


Dec.  4.  Got  Home.  Sold  my  quart  tin  cup  for  fifty  cents, 
<vhicli  was  just  half  what  it  cost  me.  The  Place  I  left  the  Bible 
Class  was  the  Psalter  Class,  Psalm  78:26." 

The  28th  verse  chanced  to  be,  ''And  he  let  it  fall  in  the 
midst  of  their  camp." 

When  Josiah  Draper  ''Beckoned  with  my  book,"  he  found 
that  he  had  not  only  spent  up  all  his  wages,  but  a  good  deal  more, 
owing,  perhaps,  to  such  entries  as  these: 

"Wednesday,  October  23.     Bought  Mutton  taller. 

"Bought  sugar  and  Bum.    Bought  a  barrel  of  Beer. 

"Feel  very  weak  and  poor.  Bought  a  gill  of  Brandy  at 
night." 

But  he  was  a  true  patriot,  for  only  a  week  after  his  return 
he  was  taking  his  savings  of  former  years  in  order  to  equip  three 
more  of  our  townsmen  for  the  army,  one  of  whom  lived  in  Pearl 
City. 

A  few  weeks  before  Josiah  Draper's  enlistment  there  had 
been  an  emergency  call  from  Vermont  for  immediate  help.  It 
was  known  as  the  Call  of  Bennington.  Dr.  A.  J.  Miller,  who 
helped  to  throw  the  tea  overboard,  was  now  a  surgeon  in  the 
army.  His  brother,  Leonard,  the  ancestor  of  Mrs.  C.  A.  Gridley, 
had  enlisted  during  the  preceding  March,  and  was  now  stationed 
near  the  point  of  danger.  Their  younger  brother,  Joseph,  father 
of  the  late  Mr.  Daniel  Miller  (more  familiarly  known  to  the  old 
residents  of  South  Hadley  as  "Uncle  Daniel"),  was  very  desi- 
rous of  joining  the  rescue  party.  He  had  no  suit  of  clothes  be- 
fitting such  a  journey,  through  tangled  woods  and  thorny 
swamps.  Only  two  days  had  been  allowed  the  recruits  for 
preparation,  and  something  must  be  done.  Something  ivas 
done,  for  two  sheep,  one  black  and  the  other  white,  were  hastily 
led  into  the  water  and  their  fleeces  washed.  The  shearing  of  the 
pair  was  soon  completed ;  then  everyone,  even  the  children,  was 
set  to  work  picking  the  wool  apart,  beating  it  with  sticks,  and 
tossing  it  into  the  air.  The  older  women,  their  hands  thor- 
oughly greased,  mixed  the  white  and  black  wool  together  in 
order  to  make  the  "pepper  and  salt"  cloth,  which  was,  at  that 
era,  in  universal  use.    They  had  only  hand  cards  with  which  to 


SOUTH    HADLEY    I^    THE    REVOLUTION  155 

form  it  into  rolls,  and  tlie  women  took  turns  during  the  first 
night  in  sitting  up  to  prepare  it  for  spinning.  Next  morning 
these  rolls  were  twisted  and  drawn  out  on  the  spinning  wheel 
until  fine  enough  to  be  called  yarn.  It  was  then  wound  on  a 
spindle  and  quilled.  Twelve  hours  were  spent  in  weaving  the 
five  yards  of  cloth  which  were  needed.  The  second  night  and 
the  next  morning  were  fully  occupied  in  cutting  out  and  making, 
by  hand,  the  coat  and  knee  breeches  which  composed  the  suit. 

The  news  of  Burgoyne's  surrender  was  received  at  Hadley 
on  Sunday,  October  20,  1777,  and  the  good  tidings  were  doubt- 
less sent  at  once  to  the  assembled  congregations  at  South  Hadley 
and  Granby.  The  joy  must  have  been  great  indeed,  for  Colonel 
"VVoodbridge  and  his  men  had  been  in  Ticonderoga  at  the  time 
of  its  evacuation,  and  there  were  many  others  from  these  two 
towns  still  at  the  front. 

One  of  the  soldiers  present  on  the  occasion  of  Burgoyne's 
surrender  never  forgot  the  scene.  A  grandson  and  namesake  of 
our  pioneer,  William  Montague,  had  been  apprenticed  to  Lieu- 
tenant Eeuben  Judd,  of  South  Hadley,  in  order  to  learn  the 
carpenter's  trade. 

During  the  summer  of  1777  Lieutenant  Judd  was  drafted  to 
joint  the  northern  army.  He  had  already  seen  as  much  of  mili- 
tary service  as  he  desired,  and  young  Montague  offered  to  go 
as  his  substitute.  His  parents  at  first  objected,  but  Colonel 
Woodbridge  obtained  their  consent  by  taking  the  youth  as  a 
kind  of  aide-de-camp,  under  his  own  personal  care.  At  the 
time  when  Burgojiie  delivered  up  his  sword  to  General  Gates, 
William  Montague,  being  at  that  hour  oif  duty,  established  him- 
sqlf  upon  a  gate  post  whence  he  could  witness  the  ceremony. 
Burgoyne's  sword,  which  was  immediately  returned  to  him,  is 
now  in  Hadley,  he  having  presented  it  to  Colonel  Porter  on  his 
way  home. 

After  the  American  victory  at  Bennington,  finding  that 
they  possessed  no  adequate  means  of  keeping  the  captured  Hes- 
sians confined  in  that  place,  numbers  of  them  were  sent  to  this 
and  neighboring  towns  to  be  "farmed  out  among  the  inhabitants, 
who  had  the  use  of  them  in  return  for  furnishing  board,  lodging 


156  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

and  safe  keeping."  Some  of  them  found  sucli  pleasant  homes 
and  were  so  happy  that  when  an  opportunity  was  given  them  of 
returning  to  the  Fatherland  they  chose  to  remain.  Others  were 
less  contented;  the  records  in  Boston  show  that  one  of  these 
who  had  been  located  in  our  town,  having  heard  that  the  British 
had  captured  an  American  soldier,  wrote  a  letter  asking  to  be 
exchanged  for  the  new  prisoner.  Had  he  but  known  it,  there 
were  still  tories  in  West  Springfield,  who  would  have  given  him 
shelter  and  concealment  could  he  have  escaped,  but  such  pre- 
cautions were  taken,  and  their  treatment  was  so  kind  that  few 
desired  to  leave  this  region. 

While  these  events  were  taking  place  the  officials  of  our 
town  had  not  been  idle,  and  on  February  11,  1777,  a  meeting  of 
the  selectmen  was  held  at  the  house  of  Captain  Moses  Montague, 
"to  prevent  monopoly  and  high  prices." 

Horses  were,  at  that  time,  in  greater  demand  than  ever  be- 
fore. There  were  frequent  journeys  to  Springfield,  partly  in 
order  to  obtain  the  latest  news,  and  partly  to  carry  the  generous 
contributions  which  were  sent  to  the  soldiers, — stockings  and 
shoes,  clothing  and  food.  We  find  one  entry  in  our  town  records 
— ''Voted  to  provide  3460  waite  of  Beef  for  the  Continental 
Army;"  and  three  months  later, — "Voted  to  have  by  Feb.  6, 
8000  pounds  of  Beef,  our  quota  for  the  army." 

Then,  too,  Springfield  was  the  mustering  point  for  Central 
and  Western  Massachusetts;  Colonel  Woodbridge  was  the 
muster  master  for  that  section,  and  Major  Josiah  Wliite  and 
other  leading  citizens  of  South  Hadley  assisted  him.  In  addition 
to  this,  some  who  could  not  go  to  the  war  themselves  lent  their 
horses  to  be  used  in  the  army.  Taking  all  these  things  into  con- 
sideration, our  Town-fathers  said,  "The  price  of  horse  travel 
shall  be  two  and  one-fourth  pence  a  mile. ' ' 

Men's  long  stockings,  knit  from  the  best  of  wool,  could  be 
charged  for  at  the  rate  of  six  shillings  "a  pare,"  but  common 
shoes  must  be  sold  for  eight  shillings.  Cheese  was  to  be  six- 
pence and  butter  eight  pence  per  pound,  while  rum  was  listed  at 
nine  shillings  a  gallon.  A  mug  of  the  best  flip  was  to  be  sold 
for  a  shilling,  but  for  a  "good  meal  of  vittles"  our  innkeepers 


SOUTH    HAULEY    IX    THE    EEVOLUTION  157 

could  charge  only  ten  pence,  and  lodging  must  not  exceed  three 
pence  per  night. 

The  most  important  matter  left  to  the  decision  of  this  meet- 
ing was  in  regard  to  the  amount  of  wages  which  should  be  paid 
for  labor,  especially  during  haying  and  harvesting.  If  the  rate 
were  fixed  at  too  high  a  figure  then  South  Hadley  might  be 
complained  of  at  the  General  Court  by  the  surrounding  towns. 
If  it  were  too  low,  help  would  be  hard  to  obtain.  In  the  early 
days  strikes  and  labor  troubles  were  a  thing  unknown,  for  the 
state,  taking  matters  into  its  own  hands,  had  empowered  town 
officials  to  "impress  men  for  mowing,  reaping  of  corn,  and  in- 
ning thereof."  This  law  directed  the  husbandman  who  needed 
more  help  during  the  ingathering  of  crops,  to  request  the  con- 
stable to  procure  it  for  him.  The  latter  was  told  to  go  to  the 
"artificers  and  handy  craftsmen"  and  order  them  to  take  their 
place  in  the  field,  "unless  necessarily  attending  to  like  business 
of  their  own."  The  shoemaker  who  refused  to  lay  down  his 
last,  or  the  carpenter  who  continued  the  use  of  hammer  and 
plane,  and  the  weaver  who  remained  at  his  loom,  disregarding 
such  a  summons,  must  each  pay  double  the  day's  wages  to  the 
poor  of  the  town,  and  if  the  constable  forgot  or  neglected  to 
notify  the  artisans,  then  he  must  himself  pay  the  forfeit  in  their 
place. 

The  final  decision  of  our  selectmen  was  to  double  the  wage 
rate  established  by  the  legislature  of  a  century  before,  and  give 
the  farm  laborer  three  shillings  a  day. 

So  rapidly  did  the  paper  currency  depreciate  that  two  years 
later  it  was  voted,  in  South  Hadley, ' '  Town  bills  shall  be  doubled 
twenty-four  times  for  payment."  The  same  year,  when  a  call 
came  for  six  months'  men,  our  town  offered  a  bounty  for  en- 
listment. One  thousand  dollars  in  continental  bills,  or  twenty 
silver  dollars  at  the  close  of  the  service.  Most  of  the  volunteers 
wisely  chose  the  latter  alternative. 

Few  people  can  rightly  estimate  the  cost  of  our  independ- 
ence. Aside  from  the  sufferings  of  the  wounded,  who  could 
command  so  little  medical  skill  for  the  alleviation  of  pain ;  aside 
from  the  ever-present  loneliness  of  the  home  that  had  been  made 


158  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

desolate  by  tlie  hand  of  death,  there  were  other  troubles  to  be 
encountered.  The  laws  which  permitted  imprisonment  for  debt 
were  still  in  force.  Despite  the  kindness  of  neighbors,  there 
were  some  soldiers  in  this  region  who  felt  compelled  to  mortgage 
their  farms  in  order  to  support  their  families  during  their  long 
absences  at  the  front.  At  the  close  of  the  war  they  received 
payment  in  continental  bills,  which  became  almost  valueless,  so 
that  they  were  obliged  to  sell  their  farms  and  begin  life  anew. 

This  was  not  the  case  with  Deacon  David  Nash,  who  had 
slaves  enough  to  till  his  land  when  he  was  absent.  And  David 
Mitchell,  who  lived  on  the  old  Hyde  place,  sent  his  slave  Caesar 
into  service  for  the  country,  while  himself  remaining  here  in 
order  to  promote  the  work  of  collecting  food  and  clothing  for 
the  army.  Caesar  enlisted  early  in  the  war,  at  a  time  when  the 
soldiers  were  still  paid  in  silver.  He  saved  his  wages  and  pur- 
chased his  own  freedom,  and  thereafter  it  is  doubtful  whether 
a  prouder  man  than  he  ever  entered  our  meeting  house.  His 
very  name,  Caesar  Cambridge,  was  classical,  though  his  com- 
rades from  South  Hadley  and  Granby,  Peter  Pendergras,  Selor 
Sword,  Lorin  Larkin  and  Jonas  Jackson,  could  boast  that  theirs 
were  no  less  alliterative. 

Barry,  in  his  History  of  Massachusetts,  states  that  the 
grievance  which  induced  South  Hadley  to  join  in  the  Eevolution 
was  the  refusal  of  Grea.t  Britain  to  permit  the  erection  of  slitting 
mills  in  this  country.  So  many  buildings  were  constantly  going 
up  that  there  was  frequently  a  shortage  of  hand-made  nails,  and 
these  mills  were  able  to  convert  iron  bars  into  nail  rods.  During 
the  first  half  of  the  last  century  old  people  used  to  describe  the 
process  of  nail  making  as  they  had  seen  it  done  in  our  town. 

On  a  cold  winter's  evening,  when  plenty  of  wood  had  been 
heaped  upon  the  flames  in  the  big,  old  fireplace,  the  boys  took 
turns  in  holding  the  long  nail  rod  in  the  coals  till  the  end,  was  red 
hot.  Then  the  father,  with  a  stout  hammer  and  many  quick 
blows,  shaped  this  end  into  a  point.  Taking  his  chisel,  he  cut  off 
a  piece  of  the  rod,  a  little  longer  than  the  steel  mold,  or  bore,  as 
it  was  called,  into  which  he  forced  the  bit  of  hot  iron.  Upon  the 
part  which  projected  beyond  the  mold  he  struck  heavily  until 


SOUTH    HADLEY    IN    THE    EEVOLUTION  150 

he  had  flattened  it  into  a  head.  When  sufficiently  cooled,  the 
nail  was  withdrawn  from  the  mold,  which  could  then  be  used  over 
again. 

Some  families  became  very  expert  at  casting  bullets,  though 
the  melted  lead  oftentimes  came  from  the  sacrifice  of  their 
cherished  pewter.  There  was  a  call  for  ammunition  at  home  as 
well  as  abroad,  for  the  very  animals  in  the  forest  seemed  to 
know  by  intuition  the  defenseless  state  of  many  homes,  and  we 
read  in  an  old  diary,  kept  by  one  of  our  ancestors,  that  the  wild 
hogs,  with  which  the  woods  were  filled,  "Infested  my  garden." 
Another  entry  runs  thus — "To-day  a  wolf  killed  a  young  goat 
for  me  in  the  pasture  east  of  the  house."  The  owner,  hearing 
the  outcry,  came  with  a  loaded  gun,  but  the  wolf  fled  to  a  swamp, 
where  he  concealed  himself.  The  neighboring  men  were  called 
together,  but  Sir  Lupus  had  escaped,  and  the  record  ends  with — 
"Drove  the  swamp  and  nothing  got." 

It  will  be  no  matter  of  surprise  that  the  pastures  and  gar- 
dens south  of  Mt.  Holyoke  were  less  carefully  guarded  when  we 
remember  that  Granby  and  South  Hadley  together  sent  two 
hundred  and  fifty  fearless  and  faithful  soldiers  into  the  army. 
Since  they  were  all  of  them  born  previous  to  1768,  at  which  time 
the  East  Parish  was  set  off  as  a  separate  town.  South  Hadley 
may  be  forgiven  for  claiming  their  nativity  as  something  of 
which  it  might  justly  be  proud.  A  part  of  these  volunteers  were 
at  "West  Point  at  the  time  when  Washington  first  learned  of  the 
treachery  of  Benedict  Arnold.  It  was  a  season  of  deep  discour- 
agement throughout  the  country.  The  regiment  to  which  these 
men  belonged  had  served  its  time  and  was  waiting  to  be  dis- 
charged. The  commander-in-chief  desired  to  retain  them  longer, 
but  they  were  naturally  impatient  to  return  home.  Levi  Taylor, 
who  had  enlisted  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  was  among  them.  Often 
in  later  years  did  he  repeat  to  the  wondering  children  the  story 
of  what  followed  this  appeal — General  Washington  told  them  of 
his  difficulties,  and  of  the  dangers  that  threatened  their  common 
cause,  and  asked  them  if,  as  a  personal  favor  to  himself,  they 
would  consent  to  stay  a  little  longer.  "Let  every  man  who  will 
promise  me  to  remain  a  month  longer  poise  his  gun!"  said  the 


160  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

commander.  And  the  old  soldier's  voice  rang  out  triumphantly 
on  his  closing  sentence — "And  every  man  of  us  pized  his  piece." 

Fifty  years  after  the  Eevolution  one  of  these  old  soldiers 
remarked  that  he  had  seen  as  hard  fighting  in  the  streets  of 
South  Hadley  between  whigs  and  tories,  as  any  he  had  wit- 
nessed while  in  camp.  Stones  and  brickbats,  however,  though 
dangerous  missiles,  did  not,  so  far  as  we  know,  inflict  any  mortal 
wounds.  As  time  went  on  toryism  disappeared  from  the  town. 
Its  leaders  selling  their  farms,  or  leaving  them  to  be  confiscated, 
retired  to  other  lands  on  a  pension  from  the  King.  Some  who 
had  been,  perhaps,  unjustly  suspected  of  being  British  sympa- 
thizers, removed  to  neighboring  states.  One  family  of  Smiths 
emigrated  to  Vermont.  After  the  battle  of  Bennington  they 
opened  their  house  to  our  wounded  soldiers,  whom  they  nursed 
tenderly  back  into  health. 

A  very  pretty  story  might  be  written  concerning  the  South 
Hadley  man  who  was  consigned  by  the  surgeon  to  the  care  of  a 
family  named  Smith,  and  found  to  their  mutual  surprise  that  he 
was  in  the  hands  of  his  old  neighbors. 

Among  the  many  incidents  of  the  Revolution  handed  down 
to  us  by  our  forefathers  is  the  story  of  Mrs.  Philips,  the  great- 
grandmother  of  Granby's  historian,  A.  W.  Fisk.  A  party  of 
Revolutionary  soldiers,  recently  discharged  from  service,  and 
returning  to  Chesterfield,  New  Hampshire,  lost  their  way  in 
the  woods  and  wandered  for  days,  having  only  a  few  mouthfuls 
of  food  to  be  shared  between  them.  When  at  last  they  reached 
the  house  of  Mrs.  Pliilips  they  were  in  a  starving  condition,  and 
begged  piteously  for  something  to  eat.  ''If  you  will  promise  to 
follow  my  directions  implicitly,  I  will  feed  you,"  answered  the 
astute  matron,  and  to  this  they  agreed.  A  large  kettle,  filled 
with  hot  water,  was  swinging  from  the  crane  in  the  big  fireplace. 
She  stirred  in  Indian  meal  until  it  had  attained  the  right  con- 
sistency for  gruel  and  gave  each  of  them  a  cupful  to  drink. 
They  clamored  eagerly  for  more.  '  *  No, ' '  she  said  firmly.  ' '  You 
promised  to  obey  me,  you  must  wait."  Later  on  they  had  an- 
other cupful.    Little  by  little  she  nourished  them  till  they  were 


SOUTH    HADLEY    IN    THE    EEVOLUTION"  161 

able  to  partake  of  solid  food,  and  the  verdict  of  the  doctor  was 
that  her  resolution  and  good  sense  had  saved  their  lives. 

Owing  to  the  limits  of  the  present  chapter,  many  interesting 
details  in  regard  to  the  war  must  be  omitted.  We  know  in  brief 
that  whenever  our  army  met  with  defeat  a  day  of  fasting  and 
prayer  was  appointed  by  our  minister,  and  neighboring  pastors 
often  preached  for  him  upon  these  occasions.  But  when  a  vic- 
tory occurred  all  was  joy  and  gladness.  We  learn  from  the  old 
orderly  books  that  a  great  triumph  was  heralded  by  remitting 
the  punishment  of  those  who  had  been  sentenced  to  the  whipping 
post,  and  a  gill  of  rum  was  allowed  to  every  soldier  in  honor  of 
the  event.  Our  minister  always  appointed  a  day  of  special 
thanksgiving,  and  bonfires  were  lighted  to  express  the  universal 

joy. 

A  brother  of  one  of  our  deacons,  who  lived  north  of  Mt. 
Holyoke,  one  day  met  two  youths  rolling  an  empty  tar  barrel 
before  them.  "Whither  away,  boys?"  he  asked.  They  answered 
him  respectfully,  "We  are  going  to  the  mountain,  sir,  to  cele- 
brate the  victory  of  which  we  have  just  heard."  "And  is  that 
the  way  to  praise  God  for  his  goodness?  Back  to  yonder  build- 
ing, ' '  pointing  to  the  meeting  house, ' '  and  let  us  there  thank  God 
as  we  ought."  So  saying  he  drove  the  reluctant  youths  before 
him,  and  kneeling  in  the  sacred  edifice,  with  a  boy  upon  either 
side  of  him,  made  a  long  prayer. 

Soldiers  returning  from  camp  brought  back  to  us  many  new 
songs,  which  were  soon  heard  in  both  kitchen  and  field,  and  even 
upon  the  very  steps  of  the  sanctuary.  One  of  the  favorites,  sung 
to  the  tune  of  Chester,  ran  thus: 

"Let  tyrants  shake  their  iron  rod. 
And  slavery  clank  her  galling  chains; 
We  '11  fear  them  not ;  we  '11  trust  in  God, 
New  England's  God  forever  reigns. 
The  foe  comes  on  with  haughty  stride. 
Our  troops  advance  with  martial  noise ; 
Their  veterans  flee  before  our  arms. 
And  generals  yield  to  beardless  boys." 


162  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

The  surrender  of  Cornwallis  on  October  19,  1781,  must  have 
seemed  a  complete  fulfillment  of  this  prophecy.  The  news  of  that 
event  did  not  reach  South  Hadley  until  the  following  December, 
at  which  time  the  Granby  minister  promptly  appointed  a  day  of 
thanksgiving.  We  find  by  old  records  that  the  pastors  of  Belch- 
ertown  and  Granby  always  acted  in  unison  with  Mr.  Woodbridge 
in  such  matters,  so  we  must  have  had  a  service  of  praise.  The 
Granby  minister  is  said  to  have  preached  from  the  text,  "Thou 
has  done  great  things  for  us,  whereof  we  are  glad." 

Among  the  ensigns  of  Colonel  Woodbridge 's  regiment  was 
a  person  of  fine  appearance  and  pleasing  address,  who  fought  in 
the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  This  man  was  Daniel  Shays,  the 
leader  and  instigator  of  the  insurrection  called  Shay's  Rebellion. 
The  history  of  this  uprising  is  too  familiar  to  need  repetition ; 
but  the  flight  of  his  soldiers  from  Springfield  to  Amherst  gave 
to  many  of  our  townsmen  a  night  of  terror. 

On  the  27th  of  January,  1787,  Jonathan  Burnett,  a  veteran 
of  the  Revolutionary  War,  was  absent  from  home.  He  lived  on 
College  street,  in  the  house  now  owned  by  G.  F.  Canney.  It  was 
a  very  cold  day,  and  the  snow  lay  thick  upon  the  ground.  As 
the  darkness  deepened  his  children  gathered  before  the  open 
fire.  Strange  sounds  were  heard  in  the  street,  and  before  the 
little  one  in  the  trundle  bed  was  sound  asleep  their  uncle  hastily 
entered  the  house.  He  briefly  informed  them  that  Shay's  men 
had  seized  two  barrels  of  rum  in  the  tavern  a  little  south  of 
them  and  were  already  so  intoxicated  that  they  were  breaking- 
windows,  furniture,  and  anything  that  came  in  their  way.  He 
begged  the  mother  to  hide  herself  and  the  children  without  delay. 
A  stairway  led  from  the  kitchen  to  a  large  cellar  where  the  cider 
barrels  were  kept.  Adjoining  this,  but  separated  from  it  by  a 
thick  wall,  was  a  small  excavation  known  as  the  root  cellar, 
access  to  which  could  be  obtained  from  the  southeast  front  room, 
through  a  small  recess  that  might  easily  be  mistaken  for  a  cup- 
board. Hardly  were  the  family  concealed  in  the  root  cellar 
when  the  troopers  raided  the  house.  They  went  from  room  to 
room,  punctuating  their  march  with  frequent  libations,  oaths  and 


SOUTH    HADLEY    IN    THE    REVOLUTION  163 

empty  boasts  of  what  they  would  do  in  the  future.  The  fright- 
ened children  did  not  utter  a  sound,  and  remained  undiscovered. 

Meanwhile,  one  of  their  officers  outside  the  house  shot  a 
comrade  by  mistake,  supposing  him  to  be  one  of  their  pursuers. 
This  fact,  however,  did  not  stop  the  rioting.  Captain  Noah 
Goodman,  who  lived  in  the  house  next  to  Judson  Hall,  was  a 
prominent  government  official.  He  had  been  for  years  a  mem- 
ber of  the  legislature,  and  was  one  of  the  committee  who  formu- 
lated our  state  constitution.  His  house  was  attacked  and  plun- 
dered, also  that  of  Colonel  Woodbridge,  and  many  others. 

Tradition  tells  us  that  some  of  our  men  gathered  at  the  par- 
sonage, but  were  too  few  in  number  to  go  out  and  engage  in 
battle.  At  the  turn  of  the  road,  where  the  Amherst  highway 
leaves  Woodbridge  street,  a  majoritj^  of  Shays'  men  started 
toward  the  Notch.  A  few  kept  on  through  Pearl  City,  and  one 
of  the  latter  stopped  at  the  old  "Heman  White  place,"  for 
warmth  and  rest.  Upon  departing  he  handed  the  host  his  horse- 
pistol  with  the  words,  ' '  Keep  this  till  I  call  for  it. ' '  It  has  never 
been  reclaimed. 

Deacon  Daniel  Moody  was  ill  that  night,  and  the  fire  had  not 
been  banked  as  usual.  Some  of  Shays'  followers,  seeing  the 
ruddy  glow  upon  the  window  pane,  knocked  at  the  door.  A 
servant  girl  admitted  them  to  the  kitchen,  where  the  deacon 
was  sleeping  upon  one  of  the  rude  folding  beds  of  that  day. 
The  loud  voices  of  the  men  awoke  him.  Starting  up  in  indignant 
surprise,  he  called  out,  "How  came  those  villains  in  my  house? 
Begone  instantly,  every  one  of  you."  A  drunken  soldier  ad- 
vanced with  his  weapons,  ready  to  kill  the  doughty  deacon,  but 
the  servant  girl  interposed.  ''La,  now!"  she  said,  soothingly, 
"don't  mind  him.  He  is  only  a  doited  old  man,  and  not  worth 
noticing." 

The  insurrection  found  but  few  adherents  in  this  immediate 
vicinity.  When  its  discomfited  volunteers  returned,  those  of 
them  who  were  church  members  found  themselves  debarred  from 
partaking  of  the  bread  and  wine  at  communion.  But  later,  after 
they  had  taken  anew  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and  liad  avowed  their 


164  m  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

penitence,  they  were  again  received  into  fellowship  with  the 
church. 

Upon  each  recurring  Fourth  of  July  we  are  reminded  of  the 
war  which  gave  us  independence.  It  was  not  until  1783  that  this 
day  became  a  national  holiday.  Previous  to  that  year,  March 
5  had  been  observed  in  commemoration  of  the  Boston  massacre. 
But  after  peace  had  been  established,  it  was  thought  best  to 
adopt  in  its  place  the  Fourth  of  July  as  the  date  for  annual  cele- 
bration. In  the  beginning  the  day  was  filled,  not  simply  with 
noisy  demonstrations,  but  with  sermons,  orations,  and  patriotic 
songs,  which  were  followed  by  an  ample  collation  for  the  whole 
town.  It  was  intended  to  recall  to  everyone 's  memory  the  brave 
deeds  and  heroic  suffering  of  our  soldiers. 

The  price  paid  for  our  independence  cannot  be  measured 
by  the  standards  of  to-day.  The  nameless  graves  on  distant  bat- 
tlefields, and  the  sacred  dust  that  beneath  the  bronze  marker 
reposes  in  our  old-fashioned  churchyards,  prove  the  truth  of  the 
poet's  description — 

' '  They  left  the  plough  share  in  the  mould, 
Their  flocks  and  herds  without  a  fold, 
The  sickle  in  the  unshorn  grain. 
The  corn,  half  garnered,  on  the  plain 
And  mustered  in  their  simple  dress, 
For  wrongs  to  seek  a  stern  redress. 
To  right  those  wrongs,  come  weal,  come  woe, 
To  perish  or  o'ercome  the  foe." 


THE    OROVB 


CHAPTER  NINE 

SOUTH    HADLEY   AFTER   THE   REVOLUTION 

IN  1800  female  missionary  societies  were  first  instituted  in 
Boston.  Later,  spinning,  weaving,  and  knitting  societies 
were  formed  for  the  purpose  of  sending  the  Gospel  to  the 
heathen,  and  cent  societies  and  mite  societies  sprang  up  as  if  by 
magic. 

In  those  days  it  was  customary  for  the  women  to  retain 
the  money  received  from  the  sale  of  eggs  and  butter,  with 
which  they  were  expected  to  defray  their  own  personal  expenses, 
including  their  contributions  toward  benevolent  objects.  The 
story  of  their  introduction  here  may  be  learned  from  the  follow- 
ing extracts,  taken  from  the  letters  written  by  one  of  our  old 
residents : 

"South  Hadley,  September  27,  1803.  I  have  lately  seen  a 
plan  of  a  Female  Charitable  Association,  for  the  purchase  and 
distribution  of  the  Bible  and  other  good  books  among  the  needy 
inhabitants  at  the  West.  This  plan  is  transmitted  to  the  minis- 
ters' wives  throughout  the  country.  In  Longmeadow  I  hear 
that  there  are  a  hundred  subscribers.  I  do  not  know  the  number 
in  South  Hadley."  ....  ''We  are  attempting  to  form  a  so- 
ciety to  assist  the  Cherokee  Mission  by  furnishing  clothing  for 
the  children  in  that  school.  Twenty-four  have  given  their  names 
as  members,  and  there  will  probably  be  enough  to  make  thirty, 
who  come  very  cheerfully,  and  for  conscience's  sake.  Some 
others  will  probably  fall  in  reluctantly  and  for  fashion's  sake, 
and  many  will  keep  back  for  covetousness '  sake.    They  will  ask : 

*'  'What  constitutes  a  member  of  this  society?' 

"  'Fifty  cents  annually,  and  the  privilege  of  giving  as  much 
more  as  you  choose.' 

' '  '  What !    Fifty  cents  every  year  ? ' 

"  'That  constitutes  a  member,  but  I  presume  the  ladies 
generally  will  esteem  it  a  privilege  to  give  more.' 


166  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

"  'What!  More  than  half  a  dollar  every  year?  How  much 
to  the  other  societies?' 

''  'Fifty  cents  to  the  Cent  Society,  and  twenty-five  to  the 
Dorcas. ' 

' '  '  Fifty  and  fifty  make  a  dollar,  and  twenty-five  makes  7/6, 
seven  and  sixpence  a  year  given  away  for  nothing.  And  who 
knows  what  becomes  ont?  I  don't  spose  a  bit  ont  ever  gits 
where  they  pretend  to  send  it,  and  if  it  did  I  don't  know  as 
'twould  do  any  good.  I  have  a  large  family  of  my  own  to  sup- 
port and  carnt  do  half  as  well  by  them  as  I  wanter.'  " 

From  a  subsequent  letter  by  the  same  writer,  we  glean  this 
account  of  our  first  Sabbath  School : 

"South  Hadley,  August  2,  1819. 

"Our  Sunday  School  flourishes;  we  have  120  scholars.  We 
use  Gumming 's  Catechism,  with  Psalms  and  Hymns  and  the 
Sacred  Scriptures.  I  have  a  class  of  young  ladies  from  sixteen 
to  nineteen  years  old  who  were  themselves  teachers  when  the 
school  commenced. 

"I  generally  select  the  lessons,  and  recommend  it  to  them 
to  read  Scott  or  some  other  expositor,  on  the  portion  which  they 
commit.  They  usually  get  fifty  answers  in  Cummings,  and  from 
fifty  to  sixty  verses  of  Scripture  each  week.  Sister  Harriet,  E. 
Whitney,  Mr.  P.  and  E.  White  have  classes,  and  many  others. 
We  think  six  enough  for  a  class." 

The  first  superintendent  was  Deacon  Josiah  White,  who 
was  assisted  by  Mr.  Joseph  Strong.  In  1826  to  its  other  at- 
tractions was  added  a  Sunday  School  Library.  After  the  open- 
ing of  Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary  some  of  its  most  gifted  members 
became  teachers  in  our  Sabbath  School,  two  nieces  of  Mary 
Lyon  being  among  the  number. 

More  than  sixty  years  ago  an  infant  class  was  started,  with 
a  membership  of  forty,  and  has  ever  since  remained  a  marked 
feature  of  the  school. 

Soon  after  1830  Sunday  School  concerts  began  to  be  held. 
These  were  attended  only  by  adults,  and  were  observed  as  a 
season  of  prayer  for  the  conversion  of  the  pupils.  About  the 
middle  of  the  century  children  were  admitted  to  these  concerts, 


SOUTH    HADLEY    AFTER    THE    REVOLUTION  167 

and  even  allowed  to  join  in  the  singing.  After  a  few  years  the 
young  were  asked  to  recite  verses  from  the  Bible,  and  so  little 
by  little  it  became  almost  wholly  a  children's  meeting.  Its  in- 
ception and  continued  success  may  have  resulted  in  some  meas- 
ure from  Josiah  Draper's  Psalter  Class,  in  which,  as  his  diary 
shows,  he  felt  a  vital  interest. 

Colonial  laws  permitted  the  enslavement  of  Indians  taken 
captive  in  war.  But,  skilled  as  they  were  in  woodcraft,  it  was 
almost  impossible  to  prevent  their  escape.  They  were  accord- 
ingly exchanged  for  negroes  from  the  West  Indies,  nearly  six 
thousand  of  whose  descendants  were,  at  the  time  of  the  Stamp 
Act,  held  as  slaves  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts.  Some  of  this 
number  were  owned  in  our  town,  though  their  servitude  was  of 
so  mild  a  type  that  it  could  hardly  be  called  bondage.  If  no 
guests  were  present  they  sat  at  the  same  table  with  their 
master  and  his  family,  and  partook  of  the  same  food. 

If  the  child  of  Caesar  or  Phillip  died  our  minister  entered  the 
fact  on  the  church  record  with  as  much  precision  as  if  he  had 
been  the  son  of  an  archbishop. 

The  state  line  between  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  was 
near  enough  to  us  so  that  an  escaping  fugitive  could  easily  cross 
the  border,  but  so  kindly  were  the  slaves  treated  that  we  find  no 
case  of  a  runaway  here  who  did  not  return  of  his  own  accord. 
There  was  an  unwritten  law  in  this  vicinity  that  any  slave  who 
had  been  cruelly  and  unjustly  beaten  by  his  master  should  be 
given  food  and  concealment  if  he  asked  for  it.  The  truth  of  the 
following  incident  is  fully  vouched  for : 

Two  brothers,  both  of  them  having  families,  lived  near  here, 
but  several  miles  apart.  The  elder  had  an  undisciplined  temper, 
which  was  easily  aroused,  while  the  younger  was  of  a  gentle  dis- 
position. The  former  had,  in  a  fit  of  anger,  punished  one  of  his 
slaves  so  severely  that  the  negro  ran  away.  He  soon  found  his 
way  to  the  house  of  the  younger  brother  and  asked  for  his  pro- 
tection. Here  he  remained,  working  faithfully,  until  on  a  certain 
day  word  was  hastily  brought  that  the  owner  was  approaching, 
determined  to  reclaim  his  property,  and  vowing  that  vengeance 
should  be  taken  on  the  culprit.    The  ''Live  Moor,"  as  negroes 


168  IX  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

were  then  called,  was  quickly  hidden  beneath  an  empty  hogshead 
in  the  cellar,  and  the  host  went  forth  to  meet  the  quondam 
master  with  a  placid  smile.  In  respose  to  an  impatient  demand 
for  the  bondman,  he  said  that  he  would  search  for  the  slave  if 
the  owner  would  promise  upon  the  Bible  not  to  whip  the  fugi- 
tive. This  offer  met  with  a  prompt  and  decided  refusal.  ' '  Look 
for  him  yourself  then.''  said  the  younger  brother,  in  an  unmoved 
tone.  Look  he  did.  but  to  no  avail.  At  last,  finding  that  threats, 
bribes  and  prayers  were  wholly  unheeded,  he  gave  the  required 
promise,  and  thereafter  treated  the  runaway  so  well  that  he 
never  again  attempted  to  escape. 

The  slaveholder  was  often  a  man  of  religious  as  well  as 
social  prominence,  and  ministers  sometimes  found  this  owner- 
ship their  leading  title  to  aristocracy.  The  list  of  masters  in  this 
town  included  the  names  of — Deacon  David  Nash,  Deacon  Wil- 
liam Eastman,  Squire  Benj amine  Eastman,  David  Mitchell,  etc. 
The  road  from  the  house  of  the  latter  to  the  present  homestead 
of  John  Graves  was  designated  for  years  as  Slave  street. 

After  the  Eevolution  it  had  become  evident  that  the  climate 
of  Massachusetts  was  too  severe  for  a  race  reared  in  the  warm 
latitudes  of  the  Antilles,  and  slavery  was  an  unprofitable  invest- 
ment. It  died  away  in  this  region  quietly,  and  without  the 
exercise  of  law.  One  of  the  stones  in  the  old  burying  ground 
bore  this  inscription:  ''William  McG-ee,  Died  Mar.  2,  1861,  AE 
101.  •■  This  marked  the  grave  of  the  last  slave  born  before  the 
war  of  independence,  who  was  buried  in  our  cemetery. 

"Bill  McGee.-'  as  he  was  always  called,  had  been  owned 
in  youth  by  a  man  in  Xew  Jersey,  who  was  not  always  kind  to 
him.  One  day  he  was  sent  to  pick  huckleberries  in  a  swamp  in- 
fested with  wild  animals,  and  was  not  permitted  to  carry  even  a 
stick  with  which  to  defend  himself.  His  pail  was  nearly  full 
when  he  saw  a  large  bear  advancing  leisurly  toward  him,  snip- 
ping at  the  bushes  on  either  side  of  the  path.  "I  knew  jest  what 
kind  of  a  huckleberry  dat  bar  was  after,  and  I  started  to  run, 
and  never  stopped  running  till  I  got  to  Massachusetts,"  was  his 
explanation  to  his  South  Hadley  neighbors.  In  extreme  old 
age  it  was  his  delight  to  gather  a  group  of  children  about  him 


SOUTH    HADLEY    AFTER    THE    EETOLUTIOX  169 

and  tell  them  stories  of  the  Kevolution.  His  fame  as  a  centen- 
narian  annoyed  him,  and  if  anyone  questioned  him  in  regard  to 
his  age  his  answer  was,  "I  am  so  old  that  I  am  ashamed  to  be 
alive."  He  was  held  in  such  universal  respect  that  everyone 
was  ready  to  contribute  to  his  headstone. 

Even  before  the  passage  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Bill,  South 
Hadley  became  one  of  the  earliest  stations  on  the  underground 
railroad.  Eunaway  slaves  who  reached  Springfield  were  sent 
to  a  Mr.  Bullens,  at  Chicopee;  he  forwarded  them  to  our  town, 
whence  they  were  transported  across  the  mountain  to  South 
Amherst,  where,  feeling  themselves  comparatively  safe,  a  part 
of  them  remained,  while  others  pressed  on  to  Canada.  A 
parallel  line  ran  upon  the  other  side  of  the  Connecticut  Eiver. 
Slaves  were  sent  from  Springfield  to  be  concealed  in  the  house  of 
Eev.  Thomas  Eand.  who  was  or  had  been  one  of  the  first  Bap- 
tist ministers  in  Holyoke.  and  were  sent  from  there  to  North- 
ampton. These  journeys  were  usually  made  under  cover  of  the 
darkness,  in  the  middle  of  the  night.  Among  those  who  re- 
ceived hospitality  here  were  Lewis  and  Milton  Clark,  the  former 
being  the  original  George  Harris  of  Mrs.  Stowe's  ''ITncle  Tom's 
Cabin."    The  story  of  all  these  escapes  would  fill  a  volume. 

Few  events  have  produced  so  great  a  change  in  our  town 
as  the  Temperance  Eeformation.  It  was  a  common  saying  here 
that  cider  was  as  plentiful  as  water.  Some  of  our  old  inven- 
tories state  that  the  deceased  had  "a  decent  supply  of  furni- 
ture," but  the  list  usually  includes  a  hand-press  for  the  grind- 
ing of  apples.  Soldiers  returning  from  war  sometimes  brought 
back  an  appetite  for  something  stronger  than  cider.  Eum  had 
been  served  as  a  part  of  their  rations  when  there  had  been  un- 
usual exposure,  or  on  occasions  of  great  rejoicing,  and  statistics 
show  that  twenty-five  years  after  the  Eevolution  the  average 
consumption  of  intoxicating  liquor  was  three  times  as  large  as 
it  had  been  when  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  signed. 

At  the  settlement  of  the  town  there  had  been  a  law  that  no 
one  should  drink  liquor  after  nine  o  'clock  in  the  evening,  but  this 
appears  to  have  become  a  dead  letter.  The  moderate  drinker 
had  always  the  example  of  the  parson  to  plead  in  his  own 


i:0  IX  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

defense.  Eev.  Joseph  Condit,  who  was  settled  here  in  1835, 
"was  the  first  one  of  our  ministers  who  refused  the  glass  of  cider, 
brandy,  or  the  spiced  elderberry  wine,  which  his  parishioners 
delighted  to  offer  him,  and  when  he  made  his  pastoral  calls,  cake 
and  cheese  soon  took  the  place  of  the  former  hospitable  toddy. 

It  was  not  considered  a  heinous  offense  for  young  men  to 
get  together  for  a  con\dvial  time,  in  the  long  winter  evenings. 
It  was  looked  upon  as  a  great  joke  to  give  one  of  their  number 
a  surprise,  and  ask  for  spirituous  liquor  till  they  had  exhausted 
his  store  and  he  was  compelled  to  refuse  them.    The  last  of  these 

gatherings  was  at  the  house  of  Mr.  J. ,  on  Hadley  street. 

This  host  was  himself  a  professional  joker,  and  was  looked  upon 
as  a  fair  butt  for  their  fun.  Fortunately  for  him,  he  had  five 
minutes'  warning  before  the  company  arrived,  and  filled  the 
shelves  of  his  cupboard  with  empty  bottles  of  dark  glass.  As 
he  opened  the  last  of  the  full  ones,  he  swung  back  the  door  of  the 
cupboard,  and  pointing  to  the  row  of  bottles,  said  cheerily, 
"Don't  stop  yet !  We  must  go  through  all  those."  His  \dsitors, 
much  chagrined,  soon  departed,  and  when  later  they  found  out 
the  truth,  this  custom  of  "drinking  a  man  dry"  was  dropped. 

The  faithful  sermons  of  Mr.  Condit  against  the  use  of  ardent 
spirits  had  prepared  the  way  for  a  Temperance  Crusade.  The 
Washingtonian  Movement,  which  was  said  to  have  reformed  150,- 
000  persons,  had  beg-un  in  Northampton,  and  conventions  were 
held  there.  To  these  went  delegates  from  South  Hadley,  and 
the  following  incident  was  related  to  the  author  as  being  the  first 
total  abstinence  story  ever  told  in  this  town: 

One  of  the  farmers,  who,  like  all  others  of  his  ilk,  kept  sheep, 
was  in  the  habit  of  taking  a  glass  of  bitters  every  morning  be- 
fore breakfast.  Two  of  his  sons  did  the  same,  but  the  third, 
too  young  to  drink  spirituous  liquors,  had  only  the  sugar  at  the 
bottom  of  the  glasses.  The  father,  much  impressed  by  what  he 
had  heard  at  the  Temperance  Convention,  and  feeling  that  he 
might  have  given  his  children  a  better  preparation  for  the  duties 
of  life  than  teaching  them  to  drink  ardent  spirits,  promised  that 
if  his  two  sons  would  for  a  specified  time  give  up  their  morn- 
ing dram,  he  would  present  each  of  them  with  a  fine  sheep.    They 


SOUTH    HADLEY    AFTER    THE    EEVOLUTION  171 

assented  to  this  proposal,  upon  which  the  small  boy  asked, 
''What  will  yon  give  me  if  I  will  go  without  the  sngar  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  glass?"  "You,"  returned  the  parent  promptly, 
"shall  have  a  lamb."  Next  morning  the  three  sons  were  sit- 
ting at  table  while  the  father  mixed  his  usual  dram.  Suddenly 
the  youngest  said,  in  a  perfectly  respectful  tone:  "Father, 
hadn't  you  better  take  a  sheep,  too?"  His  conscience  was 
touched,  and,  throwing  the  contents  of  his  glass  from  the  win- 
dow, he  signed  the  pledge,  and  was  ever  after  a  total  abstainer 
from  strong  drink. 

The  pledge,  which  was  signed  by  nearly  all  the  children  in 
our  town,  ran  thus : 

"This  little  band  do  with  our  hand 
The  pledge  now  sign,  to  drink  no  wine. 
Nor  whiskey  hot,  which  makes  the  sot. 
Nor  fiery  rum,  to  turn  our  home 
Into  a  hell  where  none  can  dwell. 
So  now  we  pledge  perpetual  hate 
To  all  that  can  intoxicate." 

A  portion  of  these  rhymes,  with  an  appropriate  picture, 
was  printed  upon  pieces  of  thick  satin  ribbon  and  given  to  the 
children  to  wear  as  badges  at  South  Hadley's  great  temper- 
ance picnic,  which  the  oldest  inhabitants  still  delight  to  recall. 

The  contagion  of  example  spread,  and  the  successive  years 
in  which  our  town  voted  no-license  may  have  been  a  part  of  the 
aftermath  from  these  early  reforms. 

The  annual  observance  of  Visiting  Day  was  retained  here 
until  after  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  On  a  certain 
day  in  each  year,  appointed  by  the  minister,  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  village  were  expected  to  be  at  home,  the  men  freshly 
shaven,  and  the  women  and  children  in  clean  dresses  and  aprons. 
The  family  Bible  was  placed  ready  at  hand  upon  the  candle 
stand.  The  deacons,  in  their  Sunday  best,  and  assisted  by  some 
of  the  leading  church  members,  sallied  forth  two  and  two  in 
order  to  visit  every  family  in  the  neighborhood.  They  began 
their  call  by  inquiring  of  everyone  in  regard  to  the  state  of  his 


172  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

or  her  soul.  "Have  you  been  converted ?"  "Do  you  spend  some 
portion  of  each  day  in  secret  prayer?"  "Have  you  the  full  as- 
surance of  faith?"  "Do  you  maintain  family  worship  every 
morning  and  evening?"  etc.  After  a  time  one  visitor  read 
aloud  a  chapter  from  the  Bible.  Then  all  knelt  while  the  other 
offered  a  long  prayer.  This  custom  appears  to  have  been  a  sur- 
vival of  the  old  times  when  five  tithing  men  were  chosen  at  our 
town  meeting  to  look  after  the  moral  and  spiritual  welfare  of 
families  and  see  to  it  that  the  children  were  taught  to  repeat 
the  catechism. 

During  the  Eevolution  so  many  of  our  men  were  absent  in 
camp  that,  as  in  other  towns,  women  and  girls  learned  to  care 
for  the  fields  and  gardens.  One  of  the  South  Hadley  matrons 
thus  describes  life  in  1785: 

"It  was  not  uncommon  for  young  ladies  of  the  first  families 
to  spend  some  hours  in  a  day  in  weeding  their  gardens.  They 
were  dressed  in  a  coarse  wrapper,  with  a  slat  sunbonnet  com- 
pletely covering  the  face,  and  gloves  from  the  shoulders  to  the 
middle  of  the  fingers,  leaving  the  ends  bare  to  pull  the  weeds. 
Thus  they  set  an  example  of  humility  and  diligence  to  their  in- 
feriors, which  had  a  very  desirable  effect." 

We  are  indebted  to  the  same  writer  for  the  following  pic- 
ture of  our  old  church,  with  its  square  pews,  when  the  August 
sun  streamed  through  the  windows,  all  of  which  were  guiltless 
of  blinds. 

"You  would  almost  laugh  to  look  into  our  meeting  house 
on  the  Sabbath,  to  see  the  young  men  in  the  galleries,  all  in  their 
shirt  sleeves,  and  the  girls  and  women  with  their  bonnets  un- 
tied, and  all  looking  as  if  they  had  been  making  hay. ' ' 

The  discomfort  of  the  summer  heat  was,  however,  but 
trifling  when  compared  with  the  suffering  occasioned  by  the  win- 
ter's  cold.  The  severity  of  the  climate  was  simply  mitigated,  not 
tempered,  by  the  use  of  small  foot  stoves.  The  supply  of  these 
was  so  limited  that  only  the  aged,  the  infirm,  and  children  were 
expected  to  use  them.  Stoves  of  the  old-fashioned  box  kind 
appeared  in  our  meeting  house  but  a  short  time  previous  to  1840. 
We  find  the  parish  in  1838  voting  to  "make  such  alterations  in 


SOUTH    HADLEY    AFTER    THE    REVOLUTION  173 

fitting  up  stoves  to  warm  the  house,  as  they  (the  committee) 
shall  deem  expedient."  They  also  voted  to  ''take  away  parti- 
tion to  give  room  for  stoves." 

During  the  long  time  before  the  introduction  of  artificial 
heat  into  the  meeting  house,  people  had  become  accustomed  to 
a  cold  church,  and  there  was  now  some  opposition  to  the  purchase 
of  stoves.  Their  warmth,  it  was  argued,  would  promote  drowsi- 
ness, and  the  words  of  the  preacher  would  fail  of  effect.  This 
sinful  indulgence  of  the  body  would  also  tend  toward  weakness 
of  soul.  The  amount  of  heat  diffused  was  at  first  so  little  that 
the  old  folks  became  reconciled,  and  even  came  to  church  a  half 
an  hour  before  time  for  the  service  to  begin  in  order  to  stand 
together  around  the  fire  while  they  warmed  their  cold  hands 
and  exchanged  the  news  of  the  day. 

For  a  short  time  previous  to  1830  "cook  stoves"  were  ad- 
vertised for  sale  at  Bardwell's  store  in  the  Canal  Village,  as 
South  Hadley  Falls  was  then  called.  The  following  description 
of  the  first  one  actually  in  use  here  is  from  the  pen  of  Mr. 
Byron  Smith,  and  will  be  of  interest  to  those  who  do  not  under- 
stand how  so  long  a  time  could  have  intervened  before  the 
cooking  range  superseded  the  old-fashioned  fireplace  in  do- 
mestic affairs. 

"The  first  cooking  stove  was  brought  into  South  Had- 
ley by  E.  T.  Smith  in  the  fall  of  1835.  The  name  of  it  was  the 
Doctor  Mott  (or  Nott)  stove,  after  the  man  who  invented  it. 
It  was  made  of  cast  iron  and  was  so  heavy  that  four  men  were 
needed  to  carry  it  into  the  ell  part  of  the  old  Woodbridge  house 
in  which  Mrs.  Hollingsworth  now  lives,  where  it  was  set  up. 
The  stove  was  made  after  the  style  of  an  old  iron  fire  frame. 
There  were  two  holes  for  kettles,  and  above  them  a  broad  top,  or 
shelf,  which  had  to  be  lifted  up  when  the  kettles  were  taken  off 
the  stove.  There  was  no  oven  in  this  first  stove ;  it  would  take 
in  a  stick  of  wood  two  feet  long.  Improvements  were  made  so 
rapidly  that  this  crude  affair  was  abandoned  after  two  years." 
He  adds:  "E.  T.  Smith  also  brought  into  town  the  first  load  of 
wheat  flour  in  barrels.  He  had  moved  here  from  Rochester, 
New  York,  where  the  Kempshal  flour  was  manufactured,  and 


174  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

had  purchased  twenty  barrels,  which  were  sent  East  by  the  Erie 
Canal  to  New  York,  then  up  the  Connecticut  Eiver  to  Middle- 
town.  The  river  at  this  place  was  frozen  over,  so  two  teams 
were  sent  down  from  here,  driven  by  Deacon  Sedgwick  White 
and  G.  M.  Smith,  who  brought  up  the  flour.  The  people  were 
wild  with  interest,  and  thought  it  a  great  extravagance.  Previ- 
ously, wheat  flour  had  been  used  sparingly,  and  as  a  great  lux- 
ury. ' ' 

The  coming  of  the  cook  stove  in  South  Hadley  was  ante- 
dated in  1821  by  the  introduction  into  the  pulpit  at  the  meeting 
house  of  an  oblong  iron  box  in  which  a  fire  might  be  kindled. 
This  was  done  at  the  request  of  the  pastor.  Rev.  Joel  Hayes, 
who  had  preached  here  for  nearly  forty  years,  without  losing 
a  single  service  on  account  of  illness.  He  was  now  an  old  man 
approaching  seventy,  and  suffered  keenly  from  the  frigid  at- 
mosphere of  the  building. 

There  being  no  chimney,  some  outlet  must  be  provided  for 
the  escape  of  smoke.  A  pane  of  glass  was  probably  removed 
from  the  leaded  window  near  by,  thus  making  an  opening 
through  which  the  end  of  the  pipe  could  be  conveyed  into  the 
open  air.  The  pew  next  this  stove  had  always  been  accounted 
one  of  the  most  honorable  seats  in  the  meeting  house,  having 
been  occupied  by  the  leading  widows  of  the  town.  It  now  became 
also  one  of  the  most  comfortable.  The  old  records  were  care- 
ful to  state  that  this  stove  was  not  presented  to  the  minister, 
but  would  remain  the  property  of  the  town. 

It  had  been  customary  in  the  winter  for  all  the  members 
of  the  congregation  to  spend  the  intermission  between  the  morn- 
ing and  afternoon  services  either  in  their  own  homes  or  at  the 
friendly  Noon  Houses,  which  every  Sunday  opened  hospitable 
doors  to  the  sliivering  worshipers.  After  the  benediction  had 
been  pronounced,  each  person  remained  standing  in  perfect 
silence  while  the  minister  descended  the  eight  stairs  leading 
from  the  pulpit.  As  he  reached  the  outer  door,  all  hastened  to 
leave  the  cold  meeting  house,  the  parsonage  receiving  its  full 
quota  of  visitors.  The  children,  with  their  mothers,  walked 
across  the  common  to  the  tavern  of  Deacon  Joseph  White,  which 


I 


SOUTH    HADLEY    AFTER    THE    REVOLUTION  175 

stood  upon  tlie  western  slope,  and  was  later  known  as  the  Old 
Chandler  House.  Here  they  were  received  by  a  portly,  fine 
looking  man,  and  his  sweet-faced  little  wife,  whose  gentleness 
won  all  hearts. 

There  were  no  furniture  stores  near  here  at  that  time,  and 
in  this  town  the  chairs  were  made  by  the  skilled  hands  of  Syl- 
vester Higgins,  who  pegged  them  together  so  stoutly  that  they 
are  still  able  to  defy  the  ravages  of  time. 

There  were  not  enough  chairs  for  the  children,  who  were 
bidden  to  seat  themselves  upon  the  little  footstoves,  which  were 
now  entirely  cold.  Then  Deacon  White  brought  in  an  immense 
pan  of  nut  cakes,  and  his  wife  followed  with  a  towering  plate  of 
cheese.  In  suppressed  tones  the  women  related  to  one  an- 
other the  events  of  the  week,  but  at  the  first  stroke  of  the  bell, 
which  Colonel  Woodbridge  had  given.  Deacon  Joseph  raked  out 
the  glowing  embers  from  the  big  fireplace,  emptied  the  iron 
boxes  which  had  been  taken  out  of  the  little  footstoves,  and 
filled  them  with  live  coals,  placing  a  layer  of  hot  ashes  upon 
the  top  in  order  to  conserve  the  heat.  Then  the  little  proces- 
sion started  back  beneath  the  bare  limbs  of  the  cherry  and  pear 
trees  that  overhung  their  path,  bringing  memories  of  summer 
fruits. 

Invalids,  very  old  people  and  distinguished  guests  were 
expected  to  spend  their  noonings  at  the  house  of  Dr.  Dwight, 
which  was  afterwards  removed  in  order  to  yield  its  site  to  the 
College  Art  Building.  It  was  a  spacious  dwelling,  a  portion  of 
which  has  been  fitted  up  as  an  infirmary.  The  name  of  Dr.  Elihu 
Dwight  was  constantly  spoken  of  as  the  synonym  of  hospitality. 
In  his  large  central  hall  there  was  always  kept  a  table  and 
chairs,  and  he  had  one  undeviating  rule  for  his  household:  ''Let 
no  person  ever  enter  my  door  without  finding  in  this  hall,  cake, 
and,  in  its  season,  fruit,  awaiting  him."  Ably  seconded  by  his 
wife,  their  house  was  usually  thronged  with  visitors. 

Dr.  Dwight 's  kindness  was  not  limited  to  his  guests.  Believ- 
ing that  the  early  inhabitants  of  Hockanum  found  it  a  hard 
struggle  to  subdue  the  rocky  soil,  he  offered  to  give  them  his 
medical  services  in  return  for  his  annual  supply  of  pumpkins. 


176  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

They  agreed  to  this,  and  when  ill  sent  for  him.  Every  autumn 
he  might  be  seen  on  a  certain  day  driving  home  a  cart  piled 
high  with  his  yellow  prizes.  He  was  the  dentist  as  well  as  the 
physician  of  the  town,  and  his  kind  heart  suffered  at  the  pain 
he  was  compelled  to  inflict  in  this  branch  of  his  profession. 

The  late  Mr.  Nash,  of  Moody  Corner,  used  to  tell  how,  when 
he  was  a  lad,  he  went  down  to  Dr.  Dwight  to  have  an  ulcerated 
tooth  extracted.  The  dentist  had  no  forceps,  and  only  a  cruel, 
iron  turnkey  with  which  to  twist  it  out.  The  instant  Dr.  Dwight 
looked  at  the  tooth  he  saw  that  it  could  not  be  taken  out  with- 
out giving  the  youth  a  moment  of  supreme  agony.  ' '  How  much 
will  it  cost  to  have  it  pulled?"  asked  Erastus.  "Well,"  re- 
turned the  medical  man,  "if  I  give  you  much  pain  I  shall  have 
to  charge  you  twenty-five  cents,  but  if  I  don't  hurt  you,  it  will 
not  cost  you  anything."  After  he  had  finished  and  the  boy  was 
ready  to  return  home,  the  latter  produced  his  two  ninepences. 
' '  How  much  is  it  ?"  he  inquired.  ' '  Did  I  hurt  you  ? ' '  queried  the 
Doctor.  ' '  N-no,  sir, ' '  replied  the  plucky  lad.  ' '  Then  you  owe  me 
nothing,"  said  the  dentist,  and  the  boy  departed  homeward, 
the  coins  jingling  merrily  in  his  pockets. 

It  is  hard  at  this  epoch  to  realize  the  fortitude  required  of 
our  forefathers,  and  the  patient  industry  needed  at  a  time  when 
the  present  common  necessities  of  life  were  often  deemed  luxur- 
ies. We  find  among  the  old  papers  of  a  former  South  Hadley 
merchant  this  label:  "Roberts,  Pin  and  Needle  Maker  to  Her 
Royal  Highness,  the  Dutchess  of  Clarence.  Roberts'  Royal  Im- 
prov'd  Pins."  In  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
these  London  pins  were  sometimes  a  dollar  a  paper,  and  very 
small  papers  at  that.  So  costly  was  this  article  that  brides 
were  given  as  a  part  of  their  dowry  a  sum  sufficient  for  their 
purchase,  which  was  called  their  Pin  Money.  About  the  time  of 
the  Revolution,  people  began  to  manufacture  them  in  this  coun- 
try, but  it  was  said  that  without  a  division  of  labor  it  would  re- 
quire several  hours  to  make  a  single  one.  Some  of  these  old 
pins  still  remain  in  the  town.  They  were  formed  by  cutting  off 
a  piece  of  brass  wire  of  the  required  length,  one  end  of  which 
was  carefully  sharpened  to  a  point  upon  a  grindstone.     The 


a 


Jill 

-ail 

Si 

I 


SOUTH    HADLEY    AFTEE    THE    REVOLUTION  177 

head  was  prepared  by  winding  a  finer  and  more  delicate  wire 
into  spirals  of  exactly  the  same  size  as  the  body  of  the  pin.  Two 
or  three  of  these  coils  were  cut  off,  slipped  over  the  point,  and 
pushed  to  the  other  extremity  of  the  bit  of  brass  wire,  where  it 
was  riveted,  thus  forming  the  head  of  the  pin.  These  proved  to 
be  clumsy  and  expensive  affairs. 

Wlien  Stephen  White  set  up  his  carding  mill  here,  the  rolls 
of  wool  were  sent  home  carefully  wrapped  in  coarse  tow  cloth, 
but  the  scarcity  of  these  brass  pins  was  so  great  that  he  paid 
the  boys  a  certain  sum  per  thousand  for  thorns  to  be  used  in 
their  stead.  Eyelets  through  which  linen  twine  could  be 
passed  were  used  as  fastenings  upon  many  articles  of  dress, 
and  a  bodkin  was  sure  to  be  found  in  the  work-basket  of  every 
family. 

One  of  the  most  pressing  needs  in  the  olden  households 
was  to  find  some  easy  method  of  kindling  fires.  In  the  scat- 
tered houses  of  our  more  remote  districts  it  was  often  neces- 
sary in  winter  for  members  of  the  family  to  sit  up  in  turn 
through  the  night  in  order  to  keep  the  fire  alive.  The  great 
back  log  must  be  banked  at  the  close  of  the  evening,  or  it  would 
be  burned  out  before  morning,  and  if,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was 
covered  too  deeply  with  ashes,  it  would  be  smothered.  In  places 
where  there  were  several  houses  near  together  one  could  take 
risks,  for  the  men  of  South  Hadley,  who  knew  (as  we  have  had 
ocular  proof)  how  to  make  their  own  ploughs  and  pitchforks, 
also  constructed  small  iron  boxes,  with  handles  two  or  three 
feet  long,  intended  for  the  borrowing  of  live  coals  from  a  neigh- 
bor's fire.  And  the  first  smoke  rising  from  a  friend's  chimney 
was  a  signal  that  help  was  to  be  had  there. 

After  the  close  of  the  Eevolutionary  War,  some  of  our  sol- 
diers, returning  with  their  flint  locks,  resorted  to  a  new  expedi- 
ent for  procuring  a  flame.  The  screw  at  the  end  of  the  ramrod 
was  twisted  into  a  mass  of  refuse  tow,  then  drawn  out  and 
rammed  into  the  barrel  of  the  gun.  A  pinch  of  powder  was  de- 
posited in  the  flash  pan,  and  a  percussion  cap  put  into  place. 
When  the  latter  had  been  exploded,  splinters  of  pitch  pine  were 
thrust  into  the  burning  tow,  which  had  been  ignited,  and  from 


178  IX  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

these  sticks  a  blaze  could  be  quickly  started  in  the  old  fireplace. 
This  method,  however,  was  used  sparingly,  many  families  ob- 
jecting to  so  noisy  a  process  for  kindling  a  fire. 

The  earliest  form  of  matches  introduced  into  this  country 
found  its  way  into  South  Hadley,  but  apparently  met  with 
scanty  favor,  only  one  of  its  time-worn  boxes  remaining  here 
to  tell  the  tale.  It  consisted  of  a  number  of  small  bits  of  wood 
tipped  with  sulphur,  and  a  bottle  of  phosphorus,  all  incased  in  a 
small  box  bearing  upon  one  side  a  piece  of  flint.  The  wooden 
matches  were  to  be  dipped,  one  by  one,  as  they  were  needed, 
into  the  phosphorus  and  then  drawn  across  the  piece  of  flint.  The 
flame  thus  obtained  was  of  so  evanescent  a  character  that  a 
bit  of  wood  whose  end  had  been  dipped  in  turpentine  must  be 
kept  at  hand  in  order  to  be  immediately  lighted.  They  were 
sometimes  dangerous  when  left  within  the  reach  of  children, 
for  a  drop  of  the  phosphorus  would  instantly  burn  a  hole  through 
woolen  cloth. 

Tradition  tells  us  that  one  of  these  boxes  of  matches  was 
carried  to  school  by  a  thoughtless  pupil;  all  the  other  girls 
must  needs  examine  it,  and  the  result  was  so  disastrous  to  their 
woolen  dresses  that  the  new  invention  was  banished  from  our 
town. 

The  first  patent  upon  friction  matches  issued  by  the  United 
States  was  given  to  Alonzo  D.  Phillips  of  Springfield,  Mass.. 
in  the  autumn  of  1836,  and  he  began  their  manufacture  in  that 
city.  He  formed  a  paste  by  mixing  glue,  chalk,  sulphur  and 
phosphorus,  and  into  this  the  end  of  each  match  was  dipped. 
Two  years  later,  Stephen  Merchant  of  South  Hadley,  who  lived 
in  the  house  now  occupied  by  Emil  Burnette,  made  matches  six 
inches  long,  which  he  sold  for  a  cent  apiece.  They  were  in  cards 
which  he  had  sawed  out  by  hand,  and  with  every  box  there  went 
a  folded  piece  of  sandpaper.  Someone,  probably  Phillips,  ac- 
cused him  of  infringing  upon  another  man's  patent,  and  com- 
pelled him  to  close  up  his  business. 

Other  household  conveniences  had  been  gradually  coming 
into  use.  Sanded  floors  had  been  on  the  whole  rather  trouble- 
some.   The  first  carpet  made  in  the  town  was  woven  by  Mrs. 


SOUTH    HADLEY    AFTER    THE    REVOLUTION  171? 

Jerusha  Powers,  and  after  nearly  a  century  of  wear  its  colors 
are  almost  as  soft  and  harmonious  to-day  as  when  it  first  came 
from  the  loom.  The  first  ingrain  carpet  was  purchased  by  Mr. 
Robert  Brainard  of  Falls  Woods.  This  was  deemed  such  an 
unheard-of  extravagance  that  six  of  his  Methodist  brethren, 
including  the  deacons,  came  in  a  body  to  remonstrate  with  him, 
but  he  defended  his  course  with  such  ability  that  they  departed, 
half  convinced  that  he  was  in  the  right.  His  wisdom  has  been 
demonstrated  by  the  fact  that  seventy  years  later  it  is  now  still 
in  use,  and  its  brilliant  hues  were  long  the  pride  of  the  neigh- 
borhood. 

To-day  clocks  are  looked  upon  as  an  essential  part  of  the 
household  plenishing.  But  when  the  early  settlers  migrated  to 
the  south  of  the  mountain,  we  find  no  trace  of  these  useful  arti- 
cles in  their  inventories.  Their  first  town  timepiece  was  a  large 
rock  at  Taylor's  Notch,  situated  on  the  new  road  to  the  Sum- 
mit House  upon  Mt.  Holyoke.  This  boulder  was  close  to  the 
ridge  where  Hadley  ends  and  South  Hadley  begins.  In  fair 
weather  the  haymaker  who  thrust  his  pitchfork  into  the  ground 
knew  that  when  its  shadow  pointed  to  Taylor's  Rock  the  sun 
must  have  just  reached  its  meridian,  and  without  the  winding  of 
the  dinner  horn  laid  down  his  scythe. 

The  oldest  clock  in  town  was  made  with  wooden  wheels 
and  but  one  pointer,  the  hour  hand.  The  space  between  the  fig- 
ures on  the  dial  was  divided  into  quarters,  so  that  one  could 
iearn  from  its  face  the  approximate  time.  It  had  no  case,  but 
was  intended  to  be  hung  upon  the  wall. 

It  was  not  until  after  Shays '  Rebellion  that  the  old  ' '  Grand- 
father's  Clock"  appeared.  This  also  was  destitute  of  cover- 
ing, and  its  works  were  nailed  to  the  wall.  One  of  the  first 
of  these  was  purchased  by  Gardner  Preston,  Senior,  and  he 
determined  that  his  clock  should  have  a  case.  He  accordingly 
carried  the  works  to  Auraunah  Collins,  who  lived  in  Fall 
Woods,  offering  to  give  him  a  cow  if  the  latter  would  make  a 
cherry  case.  Runy  did  so,  and  it  was  so  handsomely  carved 
by  hand  that  Mr.  Preston  gave  him  "the  best  cow  in  his  barn.'^ 

About  1800  a  town  clock  was  installed,  the  payment  for 


180  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

which  did  not  appear  to  be  forthcoming.  Two  years  later 
someone  devised  a  plan  by  which  this  expense  could  be  met. 
College  street  had  been  laid  out  ten  rods  wide,  and  it  had  been 
the  custom  to  build  houses  with  the  front  doorstep  lying  exactly 
upon  the  edge  of  the  highway.  But  it  was  now  the  fashion  to 
have  a  yard  in  front  of  the  dwelling,  so  a  strip  of  land  was  sold 
upon  each  side  of  the  street,  wide  enough  for  a  pretty  lawn, 
and  the  clock  was  paid  for.  On  Woodbridge  street  a  strip 
thirty-three  feet  wide  was  sold  from  the  eastern  side  of  the 
highway,  while  the  western  was  left  as  before. 

The  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  a  period  of 
transition.  There  were  changes  in  dress,  a  fleeting  glimpse  of 
which  is  given  in  a  brief  extract  from  an  old  letter  of  a  South 
Hadley  girl,  dated  January  29,  1806. 

'^The  dresses  here  are  for  the  outside  Pelisses,  Shag  Bon- 
nets, and  Woolen  Tippets.  The  most  fashionable  color  for  the 
latter  is  scarlet.  They  are  made  of  common  stocking  yarn,  net- 
ted like  the  trimming  of  your  white  cloak,  about  a  quarter  of  a 
yard  broad,  and  a  yard  and  a  half  long ;  they  look  a  little  like  a 
skein  of  yarn  tied  around  the  neck. 

"Ornamental  hair  combs  are  also  fashionable.  They  have 
them  from  seven  to  ten  dollars  apiece." 

A  most  welcome  change  in  dress  occurred  here  about  1800. 
It  was  the  introduction  of  what  were  called  "Top  Boots."  The 
stout  buckle  shoes  then  in  common  use  had  proven  to  be  an 
insufficient  protection  while  wading  through  wintry  snows,  and 
most  of  the  yeomanry  had  provided  themselves  with  leggings 
made  of  deerskin.  But  gentlemen  like  Colonel  Woodbridge, 
who  reveled  in  white  silk  stockings,  needed,  as  they  walked  or 
rode  on  our  sandy  streets,  some  kind  of  covering  as  a  protec- 
tion against  dust  and  rain.  These  coverings  were  called  ' '  spat- 
terdashes," and  in  summertime  were  usually  made  of  white 
linen,  being  fastened  under  the  foot  and  extending  upward 
nearly  to  the  knee,  and  sometimes  beyond  it.  In  the  winter  they 
were  generally  made  of  broadcloth,  and  often  handsomely  em- 
broidered. 


SOUTH    HADLEY    AFTER   THE    REVOLUTION"  181 

The  coming  of  the  boot  sounded  the  death  knell  of  the 
smallclothes,  which  now  gave  way  to  the  pantaloon. 

Though  this  town  had  sent  more  than  its  quota  of  soldiers 
during  the  Revolution,  it  wholly  disapproved  of  the  War  of  1812. 
A  meeting  was  called  and  delegates  sent  to  Northampton  with 
instructions  to  oppose  to  the  uttermost  what  they  deemed  a 
needless  warfare. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War,  however,  the  patriot- 
ism of  the  town  was  unquestioned.  Many  of  our  finest  young 
men  enlisted,  encouraged  thereto  by  the  inspiring  words  of  Mr. 
G.  Morgan  Smith. 

Although  debarred  from  personal  service  in  the  army  by 
reason  of  lameness,  he  did  most  effective  work  in  the  securing 
of  volunteers. 

One  incident  of  these  times  appears  to  have  escaped  the 
notice  of  historians.  About  the  time  that  the  term  "Copper- 
head" began  to  be  applied  to  Southern  sympathizers,  a  Mr. 
Henry  rented  the  house  now  owned  by  Mrs.  Thomas  White. 
From  the  beginning  it  was  said  there  was  something  mysterious 
connected  with  his  coming.  He  lived  alone  and  his  food  was  sent 
in  from  outside.  Callers  were  rarely  invited  to  enter  the  house. 
He  wrote  and  received  an  astonishing  number  of  letters,  his  daily 
mail  being  greater  than  that  of  any  other  person  in  South  Had- 
ley.  In  the  barn  were  stored  several  heavy  boxes,  the  covers 
of  which  were  carefully  nailed  down.  A  story  was  started  that 
the  boxes  contained  munitions  of  war  awaiting  shipment  to  the 
Confederacy.  The  excitement  increased  day  by  day,  until  the 
more  impulsive  among  the  villagers  determined  to  mob  him. 
The  appointed  evening  found  his  yard  filled  with  angry,  clam- 
orous men.  Then  Mr.  Emerson  Bates,  with  two  others  of  a  like 
rare  courage,  placed  themselves  in  front  of  the  doorway.  ''You 
will  reach  this  man  only  over  our  dead  bodies!"  they  said, 
firmly.  At  this  moment  the  door  opened  and  Mr.  Henry  ap- 
peared. "Walk  in,  gentlemen,"  he  said  blandly.  "What  is  it 
that  you  wish  to  say  to  me?" 

In  some  confusion  they  stammered  their  desire  to  examine 
the  boxes.    "Certainly,"  he  said,  "let  hammers  and  chisels  be 


183  IN"  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

brought  at  once. ' '  With  these  they  proceeded  to  the  barn,  and 
began  to  unpack  the  boxes.  They  found  them  filled  to  the  very 
bottom  with  scientific  books,  many  of  them  being  works  relating 
to  chess.  Then  they  adjourned  to  the  house,  where  Mr.  Henry 
invited  them  to  examine  his  daily  mail.  This  revealed  the  fact 
that  by  means  of  letters  he  was  conducting  games  of  chess  with 
other  experts  all  over  the  country,  and  thus  the  mystery  was 
solved. 

Until  after  the  country  had  gained  its  independence.  South 
Hadley  had  but  small  opportunity  for  intellectual  growth.  It  is 
stated  that  in  1783  there  was  not  a  public  library  in  the  whole 
United  States,  nor  a  permanent  newspaper  published  in  Western 
Massachusetts.  The  establishment  of  the  Hampshire  Gazette  in 
Northampton  three  years  later  gave  a  new  impulse  to  the  dif- 
fusion of  intelligence  in  this  section.  Our  town  having  no  postal 
service,  a  horseman  went  through  the  principal  streets,  his  sad- 
dle bags  filled  with  Gazettes.  His  coming  was  announced  by 
ringing  a  bell  in  front  of  every  house,  when  some  member  of  the 
family  was  expected  to  go  out  and  receive  the  paper.  In  1802 
Oliver  Taylor  distributed  newspapers  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  town,  while  one  of  the  L^onans  usually  covered  the  northern 
route. 

Ours  was  certainly  one  of  the  banner  towns  in  the  establish- 
ment of  libraries.  In  1802  was  commenced  '*Ye  Social  Library 
of  South  Hadley."  This  organization  was  kept  up  for  forty 
years.  In  the  beginning  several  Granby  families,  including  the 
Smiths,  joined  in  the  enterprise.  A  meeting  of  the  association 
was  held  once  in  three  months :  upon  the  third  Tuesday  in  March, 
June,  September,  and  December,  at  ' '  Three  of  the  clock. ' '  The 
last  meeting  of  the  year  was,  on  account  of  the  short  days,  to  be 
at  *'One  of  the  clock."  A  few  of  the  titles  will  give  some  idea 
of  the  class  of  reading. 

No.   68  was  fifty-four  sermons  bound  together. 

No.  101 — Seneca's  Writings. 

No.  113 — Sermons  preached  after  the  Revolution,  one  of 
them  being  delivered  July  29,  1784,  on  "Thanksgiving  Day,  at 


SOUTH    HADLEY    AFTER    THE    REVOLUTION  183 

-the  close  of  the  American  War,"  from  the  text— ''Many  times 
did  he  deliver  them. ' ' 

No.  145 — Military  Journal  of  the  Revolution. 
No.   57 — Volume  of  Sermons. 
No.  227— View  of  the  World. 

We  find  among  the  old  books  a  collection  of  Hjtqus  written 
in  1759,  during  the  French  and  Indian  War.  We  cull  a  single 
stanza : 

''Deserter,  to  the  camp  return. 
Resume  your  former  post, 
Bewail  your  crime,  your  baseness  mourn, 
For  yet  you  are  not  lost." 

The  book  was  republished  nine  times,  and  the  tenth  edition, 
printed  after  we  had  won  our  independence,  bore  upon  its  title 
page  this  exultant  verse  of  Scripture:  "Oh,  sing  unto  the  Lord 
a  new  song His  right  hand  and  His  holy  arm  hath  got- 
ten Him  the  \dctory." 

During  the  first  twenty  years  this  society  appears  to  have 
sold  at  intervals  one  hundred  and  eighty  volumes,  which  led 
to  a  renumbering.  The  library  was  kept  at  the  house  of  Mr. 
Jonathan  Burnett,  this  being  a  convenient  place  for  Falls  Woods 
people;  and  here,  as  one  of  its  patrons  expressed  it, 

"Four  times  each  year  these  savants  met 
And  drew  their  treasures  from  the  shelves : 
Auctioned  the  books  that  each  might  get 
His  rights ;  and  all  might  suit  themselves. ' ' 

The  auctioning  was  not  a  sale  of  books,  but  he  who  bid  high- 
est upon  any  given  volume  could  have  the  first  loan  of  it. 
Weem's  Life  of  Washington  was  the  leading  favorite,  followed 
by  the  Biographies  by  Jared  Sparks,  Baxter's  Saints  Rest,  Bun- 
yan's  Pilgrim's  Progress,  and  a  multitude  of  Missionary  Her- 
alds kept  up  the  religious  tone  of  the  association. 

Next  in  succession  came  the  "Publick  Libra,"  of  which  num- 
ber 202  was  published  in  1812,  and  was  entitled  "A  Treatise  of 
Religious  Experiences." 

The  "Smith  Librarv  Association"  was  here  in  1840.    Books 


184  IN"  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

were  taken  out  on  the  first  Saturday  of  each  month,  between  the 
hours  of  two  and  four  o'clock.  It  was  considerately  added, 
''Books  may  be  drawn  at  any  other  time  by  paying  to  the  libra- 
rian one  cent  for  each  volume."  This  was  in  District  Number 
One. 

Time  would  fail  to  describe  all  of  our  libraries,  including 
the  Farmers,  the  Atheneum,  and  the  Agricultural,  most  of  whose 
books  were  destro3^ed  by  the  burning  of  our  fourth  church,  they 
having  been  stored  in  its  basement. 

The  Sabbath  School  Library,  established  in  1826,  has  been 
previously  alluded  to. 

Perhaps  these  helps  toward  a  broader  charity  came  at  just 
the  right  moment.  In  1802  the  constable  had  been  ordered  to 
warn  eight  people,  with  "Their  children  and  others  under  their 
care,"  to  leave  South  Hadley  within  fifteen  days,  they  having 
settled  here  without  first  obtaining  the  consent  of  the  inhabit- 
ants. This  was  done  in  order  to  prevent  their  becoming  a  charge 
upon  the  town. 

Yet,  if  any  of  its  own  citizens,  through  sickness  or  some 
other  misfortune,  had  become  destitute,  both  church  and  town 
showed  a  generous  sympathy.  In  the  note  book  of  an  old  deacon, 
we  find  these  entries : 

"Minutes  of  the  committee  meeting  of  South  Hadley 
Church.  Voted  to  send  Abigail  a  quart  of  wine  on  Communion 
Sunday,  May  1st. " 

"Voted  to  send  Abigail  a  pint  and  a  half  of  wine  next  Com- 
munion Day,  July  third. ' ' 

"Abigail"  was  a  chronic  invalid,  unable  to  attend  divine 
service  and  with  but  a  scanty  pittance  of  her  own.  The  minister 
was  expected  to  take  one  of  the  deacons  with  him  and  occasion- 
ally administer  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  at  her  bed- 
side.   There  were  other  quaint  entries : 

"To-day  Enos  Woodbridge  forgot  to  bring  his  ninepence  to 
church;  Josiah  Snow  paid  it,  and  he  is  to  pay  Josiah  Snow's  at 
the  next  contribution." 

The  case  of  Anne  Hillyer  would  surprise  a  present-day  over- 
seer of  the  poor.  Her  grandfather,  Timothy  Hillyer,  had  been 


SOUTH  HADLEY  APTEE  THE  EEVOLUTION  185 

one  of  the  early  settlers  and  had  built  a  small,  three-roomed 
house  a  few  rods  east  of  the  present  residence  of  A.  P.  Kj oiler. 
He  was  a  warm  friend  of  Rev.  Grindall  Rawson,  and  when  the 
latter  was  forcibly  dismissed,  showed  his  disapproval  by  absent- 
ing himself  from  communion  for  more  than  a  year.  His  de- 
scendants were  poor,  and  seventy  years  later  the  house  began  to 
show  signs  of  decay.  In  1807  the  town  sent  its  selectmen  and 
assessors  to  examine  the  house,  ''And  if  they  find  it  not  worth 
repairing,  they  are  empowered  to  build  a  new  one  in  the  same 
place."  It  was  put  into  such  good  order  that  it  lasted  thirty 
years  longer.  Then  David,  the  last  of  the  Hillyers,  took  his  own 
life,  and  the  house  was  torn  down  by  David  Chandler,  who  in- 
herited the  place  by  will,  the  town  making  no  claim  for  past  ex- 
penses. 

After  the  Revolution  came  the  fashion  of  giving  children 
what  was  called  a  double  Christian  name.  Before  that  we  had 
Comfort  Smith,  Bitterne  Selden,  Ivory  Witt,  Cotton  White,  Pre- 
served Wood,  Aristobolus  Lyman,  and  Resolve  Tuller,  all  these 
being  men. 

Of  girls  there  were  Philopheta  Ferry,  Esmereniana  Preston, 
Sapplina  Judd,  Comfort  Domo,  and  Spiddy  Ferry.  But  during 
the  Nineteenth  Century,  modern  names  were  substituted. 


CHAPTER  TEN 

IN   THE   CHIMNEY   CORNER 

A  CENTURY  ago,  any  South  Hadley  family  who  could 
secure  the  services  of  Granny  Murray  for  the  week  pre- 
ceding Thanksgiving  Day  was  accounted  fortunate  indeed. 
She  was  received  with  as  much  state  as  if  she  were  a  duchess, 
and  the  best  seat  in  the  chimney  corner  was  reserved  for  her 
during  the  long  evenings. 

The  merely  mechanical  work  of  cookery  was  distasteful  to 
her,  and  the  young  folks  were  required  to  chop  the  meat  and  pare 
the  apples  for  the  mince  pies,  and  do  what  she  termed  the 
drudgery.  They  found  her  a  strict  disciplinarian.  If  the  youth 
tired  of  the  persistent  chopping,  and  inquired  in  a  plaintive  tone 
if  it  were  not  fine  enough,  a  high-pitched,  mocking  voice  was 
sure  to  reply:  "If  you  chop  it  too  fine  it  will  be  rank  pizen." 

But  when  the  day's  work  was  ended  and  the  household  sat 
'round  the  big  fireplace.  Granny  Murray  would  tell  stories  of  the 
olden  time,  legends  that  sometimes  held  the  children  spell- 
bound at  their  vivid  recital.  She  could  repeat  to  them  the  story 
of  the  old  witch  who  lived  on  the  Belchertown  Road.  How  one 
day  a  man,  against  whom  the  witch  held  a  grudge,  was  driving 
to  South  Hadley  with  his  ox-team.  As  he  was  nearing  her  house, 
a  green  frog  suddenly  leaped  upon  the  neap  of  his  cart,  and  on 
the  instant  the  oxen  stopped.  Vainly  the  owner  urged  them  on 
with  voice  and  wliip;  they  remained  immovable.  Suddenly 
alighting,  he  struck  the  frog  a  swift  blow  across  the  mouth, 
Mvhen  it  disappeared,  and  the  team  jogged  along  as  before. 
Soon  they  passed  the  house  of  the  witch,  who  stood  at  the  well, 
washing  a  bloody  mark  from  her  face.  ''I  was  climbing  the 
fence,  and  I  fell  off,"  she  exclaimed,  but  he  knew  now  from 
whence  came  the  green  frog. 

There  were  stories  about  Enos  Woodbridge,  a  son  of  the 
town's  second  minister.  His  baptismal  name  was  Aeneas,  and 
some  of  his  oddities  of  speech  were  recorded  in  Holland's  His- 


IN  THE  CHIMNEY  CORNER  187 

tory  of  Western  Massachusetts.  ''Uncle  Enos,"  as  he  was  fa- 
miliarly called,  had  been  a  shrewd  lad,  kindly  disposed,  bnt 
sensitive  to  an  unnsual  degree.  At  one  time  his  parents,  sup- 
posing that  he  was  persisting  in  a  falsehood,  when  he  was  actu- 
ally telling  the  truth,  administered  a  severe  chastisement,  and 
it  may  be  that  in  order  to  make  the  impression  of  his  punisli- 
ment  permanent,  they  followed  the  example  of  other  South 
Hadley  families,  and  left  the  culprit  for  part  of  the  day  in  the 
garret,  with  a  pitcher  of  water,  a  slice  of  bread,  and  the  Bible, 
bidding  him  read  while  there  the  future  doom  of  the  wicked. 
From  that  day  on  the  boy  was  changed.  Only  once  again  in  his 
life  did  he  ever  say ' '  yes  "  or  ' '  no. "  "  Pretty  likely  'tis, "  "  Pret- 
ty likely  'tisn't,"  were  his  favorite  substitutes.  But  many  stor- 
ies were  told  about  him  in  the  chimney  corner,  for  he  lived  to  be 
nearly  eighty  years  old.  One  of  the  children 's  favorites  was  the 
following :  Uncle  Enos  was  an  expert  swimmer,  and  very  fond 
of  the  water.  He  often  strolled  down  to  the  canal  village,  and 
was  always  ready  to  lend  a  hand,  if  needed,  in  order  to  man  a 
boat.  One  day  after  the  fishing  season  was  over,  and  the  beach 
nearly  deserted,  some  young  men  who  saw  him  coming  down  the 
road  agreed  to  play  a  trick  upon  him.  Taking  him  into  their 
boat  they  went  a  short  distance  upstream,  and  then  informed 
him  that  unless  he  would  say  "yes"  or  "no,"  they  were  going 
to  throw  him  overboard.  When  asked  if  he  would  promise  to  do 
this,  he  gave  his  tormentors  to  understand  that  it  was  pretty 
likely  he  would  not.  They  lifted  him  up  and  threatened  to  toss 
him  into  the  swirling  waters.  He  maintained  a  stubborn  silence. 
"Say  yes  or  no,"  they  repeated,  and  receiving  no  reply  they 
threw  him  into  the  river.  Then  they  waited  for  him  to  rise  to 
the  surface,  when  they  intended  to  take  him  into  the  boat,  if  he 
complied  with  their  demand.  But  though  they  waited  long,  they 
saw  no  signs  of  his  reappearance.  At  last,  in  some  trepidation, 
they  called  his  name,  telling  him  they  were  only  joking  and  en- 
treating him  to  return.  Finally  they  became  alarmed  lest  he  had 
been  seized  with  cramp;  they  tried  to  examine  the  bed  of  the 
river,  but  the  turbid  waters  made  the  attempt  useless.  At  length, 
with  blanched  faces  and  quivering  lips,  they  went  back  to  the 


188  IN"  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

boat-house.  Meanwhile  a  most  unusual  thmg  had  taken  place, 
the  gentle  Enos  had  lost  his  temper,  and,  as  he  plunged  into  the 
water,  determined  to  give  his  assailants  the  punishment  that  he 
felt  they  deserved.  According  to  the  printed  statements  of 
former  years,  he  had  been  known  to  swim  under  water  half  way 
across  the  river.  He  now  swam  rapidly  till  he  had  reached  one 
of  the  artificial  islands  that  had  been  made  in  the  river  in  order 
to  be  used  as  fishing  wharves.  Climbing  up  through  the  dwarf 
willows  and  coarse  sedge,  he  concealed  himself,  peering  through 
the  bushes  at  his  late  companions.  He  heard  their  entreating 
cries  for  him  to  return,  but  remained  in  hiding  till  they  were  out 
of  sight  on  their  way  to  the  landing.  Then  he  swam  to  the  shore 
and  began  his  wet  walk  uptown.  Near  the  brickyard  he  passed 
the  tavern  kept  by  the  Widow  Mary  Pomeroy,  and  seeing  the 
horse  of  his  brother.  Colonel  Euggles  Woodbridge,  fastened  in 
the  yard,  he  turned  and  stole  around  to  the  kitchen  door.  The 
widow  immediately  ushered  him  into  a  small  room,  and  after  a 
brief  search  returned  with  a  handful  of  towels  and  a  suit  of 
clothes  which  had  belonged  to  her  late  husband.  Major  Pomeroy; 
this  she  bade  him  wear  while  his  own  dripping  garments  were 
hung  to  dry  in  front  of  the  kitchen  fireplace.  Hardly  had  the 
change  been  effected,  when  his  late  companions  were  seen  com- 
ing slowly  up  the  road.  They,  too,  had  observed  the  horse  of 
Colonel  Woodbridge,  and  approaching  the  front  door,  asked  to 
see  him.  Enos  again  retired  into  the  little  room,  and  his  brother, 
having  previously  heard  the  whole  story,  met  them  in  the  hall, 
determined  to  give  them  a  lesson  they  would  never  forget.  They 
knew  that  in  those  times  the  death  penalty  awaited  murderers, 
and  there  were  few  of  the  modern  methods  of  evading  it.  Trem- 
bling in  every  limb,  the  young  men  confessed  their  guilt  and 
begged  for  clemency.  But  their  eyes  quailed  before  the  stern 
glance  of  Colonel  Woodbridge,  as  he  answered,  "The  law  must 
take  its  course.  My  brother  was  an  inoffensive  man,  who  had 
never  harmed  you,  and  it  is  clearly  my  duty  to  deliver  you  up 
to  the  officers  of  justice."  Their  prayers  and  protestations  that 
they  were  only  in  fun  melted  the  kind  heart  of  Uncle  Enos.  The 
door  of  the  little  room  had  been  left  ajar.    It  was  now  pushed 


IX  THE  CHENTXET  COEXEB  189 

open,  and  a  familiar  voice  said:  "Pretty  likely  somebody '11 
stretch  a  rope. ' '  The  repentant  yonng  men  said  afterward  that 
'•Pretty  likely"  were  the  sweetest  words  they  ever  heard,  and 
thenceforth  treated  him  with  grateful  re5i>ect. 

A  new  generation,  however,  arose  who  showed  hiTn  less 
consideration.  His  evenings  were  generally  spent  at  the  tavern 
of  Deacon  Joseph  White,  this  being  the  nsnal  rallying  point  for 
those  who.  like  Enos.  were  good  chnrch  members.  Moreover,  he 
and  Jack  'White  were  inseparable  friends.  One  day  the  latter 
came  to  him  saying  that  a  party  of  travelers  had  just  engaged 
lodging  for  the  night.  Some  of  the  yonths  who  had  annoyed 
Enos  laid  a  wager  with  the  guests  that  they  would  bring  in  a  man 
who  could  be  neither  bribed,  coaxed,  nor  forced  into  saying 
either  •  •  yes  "  or  '  •  no. ' '  The  stakes  had  been  placed  m  competent 
hands.  ''And  now.  Uncle  Enos,  "continued  Jack,  "you  can  get 
even  with  those  young  men  by  just  this  once  saying  "yes"'  and 
•'no''  in  answer  to  their  questions,  and  if  they  lose  their 
money,  they  will  perhaps  in  future  let  you  alone.''  The  event 
justified  this  prediction,  and  the  discomfited  young  folks  after- 
wards gave  Enos  a  wide  berth. 

Our  town  has  its  "Dolly  Woodbridge  Chapter  of  the  Daugh- 
ters of  the  American  Eevolution. ' '  and  the  name  keeps  in  mind 
one  who  was  for  many  years  a  leading  lady  in  this  place.  Little 
Dorothy,  always  known  as  Dolly,  was  bom  May  2,  1763,  just 
at  the  close  of  a  long  and  desolate  French  and  TridiaTi  war,  in 
which  her  father.  Lieutenant  John  Woodbridge.  had  spent  years 
of  active  service.  He  was  the  tenth  of  that  name  in  direct  suc- 
cession, but  the  nine  who  preceded  him  had  all  been  ministers 
of  the  Grospel,  and  he  would  doubtless  have  followed  their  ex- 
ample had  not  the  exegencies  of  the  war  called  him  into  the 
field.  His  was  a  true  patriotism:  for  he  entered  the  lowest  rank 
of  the  soldiery;  but  his  ability  and  worth  were  soon  apparent, 
and  his  promotion  rapid,  eventually  reaching  the  position  of 
major. 

After  the  completion  of  the  town's  second  meeting  house, 
he  appears  to  have  purchased  the  old  one.  which  he  moved  a 
short  distance  to  the  north,  and  turned  at  risht  ansles  to  its 


190  IN"  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

former  position.  As  the  meeting  house  had  never  had  a  chimney, 
the  removal  was  accomplished  with  little  difficulty,  and  the  street 
had  been  laid  out  of  such  great  width  that  the  site  of  Judson 
Hall  was  then  a  part  of  the  highway.  The  building  was  re- 
modeled, and  its  two  tenements  were  occupied,  one  by  Lieutenant 
Woodbridge  and  the  other  by  John  Chandler.  Here  little  Dolly 
was  born;  but  her  father  soon  sold  the  dwelling  and  moved  to 
the  Rawson  parsonage,  where  he  spent  the  next  nineteen  years. 
At  his  death,  Dolly,  now  a  young  woman  nearly  twenty  years 
of  age,  seems  to  have  taken  into  her  special  love  and  care  her 
little  seven-year-old  brother,  named  Benjamin  Ruggles  in  honor 
of  her  uncle,  Coloned  Woodbridge.  He  became  a  minister,  but 
at  the  last  came  back  to  South  Hadley,  where  he  died  at  nearly 
the  same  time  as  his  sister  Dolly.  There  was  a  double  funeral, 
and  brother  and  sister  were  buried  side  by  side  in  one  wide 
grave.  Dolly  Woodbridge  certainly  combined  in  herself  the 
leading  traits  of  her  ancestors.  The  patrician  pride  of  the  Earl 
of  Dudley  reappeared  in  her  delicate  gowns,  for  she  was  in 
summertime  constantly  habited  in  white  when  she  entered  the 
big  square  pew  on  the  minister's  right  hand  on  Sunday  morn- 
ings. And  her  dress  was  edged  at  the  neck  and  wrists  with  fine 
embroidery,  or  feathery  lace,  all  the  work  of  her  own  hands. 
Her  bonnet,  a  Dunstable  straw,  and  still  preserved  in  the  histori- 
cal room,  was  also  trimmed  with  white,  and  in  very  warm 
weather  she  changed  her  dress  during  the  noon  intermission, 
appearing  at  the  afternoon  service  in  dainty,  fresh  attire.  '  *  She 
was  aristocratic  to  the  very  tips  of  her  fingers,"  said  an  old 
person  in  describing  her,  ^'but  she  was  never  haughty  and  repel- 
lent in  her  manners,  and  was  always  kind  to  the  poor.  She  had 
all  the  dignity  of  her  grandfather,  the  minister,  and  was  never 
known  to  exhibit  any  signs  of  ill  temper. "  She  was  a  descendant 
of  the  famous  John  Elliott,  and  had  inherited  the  same  earnest 
spirit  of  religious  devotion.  No  storm  kept  her  from  her  place 
in  the  sanctuary.  "The  ministe?',  the  deacon,  and  Dolly  Wood- 
bridge  are  sure  to  be  at  church,"  was  a  common  remark.  She 
was  not  addicted  to  housework,  and  her  fair,  white  hands  and 


I 


IN  THE  CHIMNEY  COENEK  191 

good  eyesight  enabled  her  to  do  fine  needlework  even  to  extreme 
old  age.    She  died  in  May,  1844. 

About  ten  years  before  this  event  a  strange  episode  had 
taken  place  in  the  religious  life  of  the  community.  Mormonism 
had  sent  some  of  its  advance  guard  to  South  Hadley,  with  an 
evident  intention  of  proselyting  the  inhabitants  of  the  town. 
They  did  not  call  themselves  Mormons,  but  Perfectionists,  claim- 
ing that  they  had  attained  sinless  perfection.  They  did  not 
openly  avow  the  doctrine  of  polygamy,  but  were  believed  to 
practice  it.  They  baptized  only  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  the  rest 
of  the  Trinity  being  rarely  spoken  of  in  their  meetings.  The 
large  woman  who  led  the  singing  was  named  Polly,  and  was 
known  in  town  as  Polly  Jesus.  Their  preacher  was  accused  by 
our  own  church  of  being  an  excommunicated  minister  from  a 
Congregational  pastorate. 

In  1818,  Israel  Lyman  had  built  a  brick  house  near  Rock 
Ferry,  and  its  kitchen  furnished  a  commodious  place  for  the 
Sunday  services  of  the  Mormonites,  who  soon  gathered  adher- 
ents all  the  way  from  South  Hadley  Falls  to  Hockanum.  A 
prayer  meeting  was  held  one  afternoon  in  each  week,  and  did 
much  toward  spreading  their  influence  in  this  vicinity. 

From  the  late  R.  0.  Dwight  's  account  of  their  Sabbath  Day 
services,  we  quote  the  following:  ''The  large  room,  on  week 
days  a  kitchen,  was  now  arranged  with  rows  of  chairs  on  three 
sides,  leaving  a  large  space  vacant  in  the  center."  .  .  .  . 
''There  was  the  brooding  stillness  of  a  Quaker  meeting.  At  last 
the  very  large  woman  arose,  stepped  into  the  vacant  space 
and  began  a  solemn  march.  Others  joined  in  the  silent  prome- 
nade around  the  floor  until  all  who  felt  moved  to  take  part  had 
done  so.  Then  the  men  and  women  formed  lines  facing  one  an- 
other, and  in  Shaker  style  began  a  shuffling  dance  toward  each 
other,  singing,  under  lead  of  the  large  woman's  clear  and  power- 
ful voice,  strange  psalms  to  stirring  tunes.  Gradually  the  dance 
grew  faster,  forward  and  then  back  again,  and  the  singing 
louder,  until  those  who  came  to  look  on  were  drawn  by  the  ex- 
citing scenes  to  join  this  strange  people,  and  dance  and  sing 
with  the  best  of  them.    This  performance  was  continued  so  long 


192  IN"  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

as  strength  and  breath  remained,  and  then  the  Mormon  meeting 
abruptly  ended." 

As  this  sect  gained  in  numbers,  it  was  proposed  that  a 
church  should  be  formed  and  a  building  erected  for  public  wor- 
ship. Subscriptions  were  solicited  and  obtained  for  the  further- 
ance of  this  plan.  Upon  this  our  own  church  became  alive  to  its 
responsibilities.  Rev.  Mr.  Boies,  assisted  by  Rev.  B.  R.  Wood- 
bridge  (the  brother  of  Dolly  Woodbridge)  engaged  in  an  active 
campaign  against  Mormonism.  Eight  members  of  our  church 
were  excommunicated,  and  others  were  persuaded  to  forsake 
the  new  sect.  The  Perfectionist  leaders,  and  a  part  of  their  dis- 
ciples, left  town.  One  of  the  latter  returned,  saying  that  she  had 
received  a  revelation  directing  her  to  go  home.  She  married 
happily,  and  in  her  old  age  used  to  say  that  she  had  never  re- 
gretted coming  back. 

Later  on  others  were  excommunicated  from  our  church  on 
account  of  their  change  in  religious  belief,  and  for  persistently 
absenting  themselves  from  communion. 

A  spirited  warfare  of  words  was  carried  on,  an  example  of 
which  is  subjoined. 

In  his  letter.  Rev.  Mr.  Boies  accuses  the  Mormonites  of  re- 
viling their  fellow  church  members,  and  calling  them  ' '  Children 
of  the  Devil,"  also  of  despising  the  House  of  God,  denying  the 
Sabbath  to  be  Holy  time,  and  pretending  to  be  endowed  with  the 
power  of  working  miracles.  He  denounces  their  belief  as  ''The 
doctrines  of  the  devil,"  and  concludes  his  letter  in  these  words: 
''Think,  oh,  think  of  the  dreadful  apostasy  you  have  commenced! 
But  should  you  disregard  this  friendly  admonition  the  church 
has  but  one  duty  to  perform,  awful  as  it  is.  It  is  to  cut  you  off 
from  the  congregation  of  the  Lord,  and  leave  you  in  the  hand  of 
that  God  whom  you  have  deeply  dishonored,  and  before  whom 
you  must  soon  stand  to  answer  for  the  deeds  done  here  in  the 
body.    In  behalf  of  the  Church,  A.  Boies,  Pastor." 

In  reply  to  this  letter  Miss  A. wrote  back :    "You  say 

you  have  one  more  duty  to  perform,  'awful  as  it  is,'  that  is,  to 
cut  us  off.  It  is  not  at  all  awful  to  us.  I  cut  myself  off  months 
ago,  and  have  no  longer  any  fellowship  with  the  unfruitful  works 


IN  THE  CHIMNEY  COEXER  193 

of  darkness.  And  if  I  must  tell  yon  the  truth,  I  care  nothing 
what  steps  you  take,  for  I  feel  the  fire  of  God's  love  burning  in 
my  soul,  while  writing  Glory!  Glory!!  Wlien  I  turn  my  eyes 
towards  you,  it  looks  like  midnight  darkness,  while  the  candle 
of  the  Lord  shines  upon  us.^' 

Hardly  had  the  Mormon  heresies  ceased  to  disturb,  when 
a  new  cause  of  disquietude  arose.  The  Millerites,  in  order  to 
disseminate  their  principles,  were  holding  meetings  all  over  the 
country.  Their  leader,  after  careful  study  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment prophesies,  believed  that  the  time  for  their  fulfillment  had 
arrived,  and  that  the  end  of  the  world  was  near.  There  is 
still  preserved  in  town  one  of  the  tiny  slips  of  paper  distributed 
here  at  that  time.    Upon  it  is  printed  this  inscription : 

"How  long  shall  be  the  vision?  Unto  2,300  days.  Then 
shall  the  sanctuary  be  cleansed.  *  *  *  pan.  VIII  13,  14. 
Began  B.  C.  457,  ends  in  1843." 

In  a  private  journal,  one  of  our  citizens  thus  records  his 
own  experiences: 

"In  1843  began  the  great  Millerite  excitement.  Every- 
body was  talking  about  the  destruction  of  the  world  which  Wil- 
liam Miller  was  predicting  would  happen  that  year.  This  beau- 
tiful world  was  surely  going  to  be  burned  up,  and  the  Judgment 
Day  would  soon  be  here.  Miller  was  going  to  preach  at  Chicopee 
Falls,  and  I,  with  other  South  Hadley  people,  went  down  to 
hear  him.  He  preached  in  a  large  tent,  which  was  full  of  hear- 
ers, and  as  it  was  a  hot  day,  he  preached  in  his  shirt  sleeves.  He 
was  a  large,  stout  man,  and  of  course  felt  the  heat.  I  do  not 
remember  many  particulars  of  his  discourse,  but  it  was  excit- 
ing. 'Many  believed  on  him  there.'  A  collection  was  taken  to 
pay  expenses,  and  'for  the  good  of  the  cause.'  People  were 
urged  to  give  something  if  they  had  no  money — I  saw  rings, 
earrings,  and  other  articles  contributed.  Before  the  meeting 
groups  of  men  could  be  seen  discussing  the  subject,  quoting  from 
the  Bible,  and  scaring  us  youngsters.  All  that  year  and  after- 
wards, I  could  not  see  the  sky  red  without  fearing  the  end  of 
the  world  was  at  hand.  Once  I  drove  two  seminary  girls  to 
visit  in  Brimfield.    When  we  reached  Ludlow,  it  was  red  in  the 


\ 

194  m  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

south,  and  a  shower  came  up,  and,  oh !  how  frightened  we  were. 
We  stopped  at  a  farm  house  and  begged  to  be  allowed  to  stay 
over  night.  The  next  morning  we  started  early;  the  clouds  in 
the  east  were  red-  and  my  scare  continued.  The  girls  were  older 
than  I  and  probably  had  a  little  more  sense.  We  arrived  safely 
at  Brimfield,  stayed  a  day  or  two,  and  got  back  to  South  Had- 
ley,  with  the  world  still  on  top."  *  *  *  The  record  closes 
with  these  words:  ''They  had  been  taught  by  the  Bible  and 
the  preachers  that  the  world  was  surely  going  to  be  burned  up 
sometime,  and  they  did  not  know  but  it  might  be  then.  It  is  not 
strange  that  some  ceased  trjdng  to  lay  up  treasures  on  earth, 
stopped  sowing  and  reaping,  gave  their  lands  away,  and  made 
their  ascension  robes." 

The  events  referred  to  in  the  last  paragraph  made  some 
changes  in  the  town.  Several  of  its  citizens,  in  order  to  prove 
the  sincerity  of  their  belief  in  Millerism,  sold  their  farms  for  a 
few  dollars,  and  were  afterwards  compelled  to  become  day  labor- 
ers in  order  to  support  themselves  and  their  families.  Finally 
a  part  of  them  went  West,  where  it  was  said  land  was  so  cheap 
it  was  almost  to  be  had  for  the  asking,  and  they  thus  succeeded 
in  retrieving  their  fortunes. 

During  the  summer  of  1843,  whenever  the  setting  sun  went 
down  in  a  flood  of  crimson  light,  people  were  wont  to  assemble  in 
the  Old  Cemetery,  with  the  thought  that  they  would  be  found 
upon  consecrated  ground.  Some  brought  their  ascension  robes 
with  them.  These  were  usually  white,  and  were  made  long  like 
a  riding  skirt.  One  South  Hadley  girl  confided  to  her  school- 
mates the  fact  that,  unknown  to  her  mother,  she  had  run  a  gath- 
ering string  through  the  hem  of  her  ascension  robe,  so  that  when 
she  was  taken  up  through  the  air  she  could  draw  it  closely  be- 
neath her  feet. 

Evening  meetings  for  prayer  and  discussion  of  the  sub- 
ject were  held  from  house  to  house,  though  the  prank  of  two 
mischievous  boys  made  a  slight  interruption.  One  of  the  breth- 
ren usually  had  much  to  say  about  Gabriel's  trumpet  which 
would  announce  the  dissolution  of  all  things.  One  night  a 
roguish  boy  climbed  to  the  apex  of  the  roof,  and  standing  close 


196  IX  OLD  SOTTH  H.IDLEY 

mother  were  enthroned  upon  the  driver's  seat.  At  intervals 
came  the  long  farm  wagon,  drawn  by  a  span  of  horses,  and 
filled  with  young  people,  who  flaunted  showy  banners  of  wel- 
come. The  elite  of  the  town  started  a  little  later  in  their  chaises 
and  high-topped  narrow  carriages,  one  of  which  had  formerly 
belonged  to  a  Governor  of  Massachusetts. 

Four  years  earlier  the  men  of  this  vicinity  had  determined 
that  a  house  should  be  placed  on  the  summit  of  Mt.  Holyoke, 
and  for  this  purpose  they  planned  to  have  a  Building  Bee  on 
the  anniversary  of  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  In  1821,  the  17th 
of  June  came  on  Sunday,  and  they  were  accordingly  obliged  to 
postpone  the  matter  until  the  following  day.  On  Monday  morn- 
ing, therefore,  they  appeared  with  boards,  nails-  and  the  neces- 
sary tools.  The  corner  posts  and  larger  timbers  of  the  house 
were  then  cut  down  and  hewn  near  the  site  previously  selected. 
This  first  house  could  be  approached  only  by  persons  on  horse- 
back or  on  foot.  The  horses  trained  to  mountain,  climbing  could 
thread  the  narrow  pathway  as  far  as  the  last  steep  ascent.  From 
here  people  must  pull  themselves  up  by  catching  hold  of  the 
branches  of  trees,  or  the  young  saplings  that  bordered  the  path. 
It  was  decided  to  escort  Lafayette  to  the  Mountain  House,  in 
order  to  show  him  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  which 
lay  like  a  panorama  below.  Mrs.  Abby  Wright  Allen  of  South 
Hadley  had  written  seven  verses  commencing: 
'•Great  Friend  of  Mankind. 
Honored  Guest  of  the  Nation." 
and  this  poem  was  to  be  recited  by  a  number  of  little  boys  while 
the  General  partook  of  refreshments.  He  could  choose  from  the 
following  list: 

'Choice  Jamaica  Spirits. 

''St.  Croix  Eum. 

"Cogniac  Brandy. 

''HoUand  Gin. 

''Cherry  Enm. 

"Brandy. 

"Spanish  Segars.  with  other  refreshments  generally  de- 
sired." 


-THi:    '^IAj    ^'^'i 


IN  THE  CHIMNEY  CORNER  197 

At  two  o  'clock  in  the  afternoon  Lafayette  left  Northampton 
attended  by  a  military  escort  from  that  place.  Reaching  the 
Connecticut  River,  he  crossed  at  Rock  Ferry,  and  when  his  car- 
riage drove  from  the  boat  he  found  the  townspeople  waiting  to 
strew  flowers  along  his  pathway.  They  saw  before  them  a  pair 
of  eloquent  brown  eyes,  that  seemed  to  look  you  through  and 
through,  while  above  them  was  not  the  silvery  locks  of  old  age, 
but  a  wig  of  dark  hair.  His  long  and  slender  hands  were  still 
delicate,  though  his  face  was  that  of  a  man  in  health  and 
strength.  The  grace  and  courtesy  of  his  manners  while  bowing 
from  right  to  left,  as  the  carriage  passed,  won  for  him  a  lasting 
place  in  the  memory  of  those  who  saw  him. 

At  the  turn  of  the  road  a  committee  of  reception  were  watch- 
ing his  approach  in  order  to  extend  to  him  an  invitation  to  visit 
the  mountain.  But  it  was  now  nearly  the  middle  of  the  after- 
noon, and  young  girls  dressed  in  white  were  already  lined  up 
on  the  Belchertown  Common  awaiting  his  arrival ;  there  was  no 
time  left  for  even  a  short  excursion. 

An  eye  witness  in  describing  the  scene  ended  with  the  sor- 
rowful words:  ''The  General's  carriage  turned  south  and  was 
soon  lost  to  view." 

For  man}^  years  after  this  all  needful  supplies  for  the  little 
Mountain  House  were  conveyed  up  the  narrow  bridle  path  by  a 
single  horse.  The  water  was  brought  up  in  india  rubber  sacks, 
each  one  holding  five  gallons ;  these  were  placed  in  canvas  pan- 
niers and  fastened  across  the  back  of  the  horse.  In  1851  a  wagon 
road  was  constructed  up  to  the  summit  and  a  new  two-story 
house  erected  a  little  north  of  the  former  one.  The  timbers  for 
this  building  were  drawn  up  by  teams,  and  it  sometimes  needed 
two  yoke  of  oxen  and  a  pair  of  stout  horses  in  order  to  carry  a 
load  up  the  steep  pitches.  Three  years  later  a  single  track 
railroad  was  built  up  the  last  ascent;  it  had  a  ''length  of  600 
feet  and  a  rise  of  365."  The  car  used  on  this  track  was  made 
from  the  bodies  of  two  sleighs,  fitted  together  to  form  its  main 
part.  ' '  This  was  propped  up  in  a  horizontal  position  at  an  angle 
to  the  car  truck,  which  ran  parallel  to  the  rails.  A  single  rope 
was  attached  to  the  upper  end,  and  a  horse  beneath  the  house 


198  m  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

furnished  the  motive  power."  As  this  was  a  new  idea  (being 
probably  the  first  railway  of  its  kind  in  the  world),  there  were 
crowds  of  visitors,  even  from  great  distances.  When  the  car 
rolled  up  the  steep  ridge,  not  far  from  the  summit,  a  view  of 
surpassing  beauty  met  the  eye.  Finally  ''the  car  and  its  occu- 
pants came  up  through  an  opening  in  the  base  of  the  Mountain 
House  and  stopped  just  when  the  body  of  the  old  sleigh  was 
even  with  the  floor." 

Near  the  foot  of  Mount  Holyoke,  but  a  little  farther  south, 
lay  one  of  the  town 's  first  ferries,  which  was  established  by  the 
County  Court  in  1755.  Its  landing  was  close  to  the  palisades  in 
Hockanum,  and  from  this  fact  it  derived  its  name  "Eock 
Ferry. "  J.  G.  Holland,  who  in  his  youth  was  for  a  time  assist- 
ant ferryman,  has  described  the  view  from  the  summit  of 
Holyoke  in  these  words : 
"At  my  feet 

The  ferry  boat,  diminished  to  a  toy, 

With  automatic  diligence  conveyed 

Its  puppet  passengers  between  the  shores 

That  hemmed  its  enterprise ;  and  one  low  barge 

With  white,  square  sail,  bore  northward  languidly, 

The  slow  and  scanty  commerce  of  the  stream. ' ' 

A.  M.  Lyman,  a  grandson  of  Israel  Lyman,  the  ferryman, 
states  in  his  letter  that  the  latter  "carried  on  quite  a  business 
in  connection  with  a  large  farm,  including  the  running  of  the 
ferry,  a  broom  and  shoe  shop,  tannery,  still,  etc.  Situated  be- 
side the  river  were  about  forty  acres  of  fine  meadow  land,  which 
has  since  been  washed  away.  The  road  from  Eock  Ferry  to 
Hockanum  was  called  Gate  Hill.  In  old  times  there  was  a  fence 
on  the  town  line  in  order  to  keep  the  cattle,  that  everyone  in 
Hadley  turned  loose  to  pasture,  from  straying  over  the  line.  A 
gate  was  kept  near  the  Hockanum  burying  ground,  and  every- 
one that  passed  that  way  must  open  and  close  it.  On  Sundays 
and  holidays,  boys  tended  this  gate." 

Across  the  present  highway  there  existed  at  this  time  a 
barrier  of  rocks  called  the  mountain  wall,  which  made  even  a 


PASS    OF   THERMUPVr.AK 


a- 

m-W, 

1 

[_ 

' 

.;..r. 

g 

K  '-^JSl 

C 

W' 

■  ^^H 

••I  ^»-'-^J>'WI 

■ 

luy 

h 

THE   FRANKMN    STOVE 


IN  THE  CHIMNEY  COEXER  199 

rude  cart  track  impossible.  The  road  was  thus  compelled  to 
make  a  wide  circuit,  running  northwest  of  Eugene  Lyman's 
house.  Israel  Lyman  determined  to  remedy  this  evil.  The  let- 
ter continues:  ''Grandfather  and  his  boys,  with  the  help  of 
the  neighbors,  cut  the  road  through  the  rocks.  It  was  done  for 
the  most  part  by  building  fires  upon  the  surface  of  the  rock,  and 
when  well  heated,  pouring  on  cold  water,  thus  taking  off  a  little 
at  a  time."  This  opening,  then  wide  enough  for  a  wagon  to  pass 
through,  was  a  favorite  resort  of  the  seminary  girls,  who  named 
it  the  Pass  of  Thermopylae.  It  was  then  described  as  having 
''a  high  rock  ledge  on  one  side,  and  a  good-sized  cliff  on  the 
other."  But  our  town  fathers  have  long  ago  sacrificed  beauty 
to  utility;  dynamite  and  blasting  powder  have  done  their  work 
well,  and  now  only  memory  or  a  vivid  imagination  can  replace 
the  former  romantic  grandeur  of  the  spot. 

In  the  front  rank  of  those  who  climbed  Mt.  Holyoke  on  the 
day  when  General  Lafayette  passed  through  South  Hadley  was 
doubtless  the  President  of  the  Lazy  Men's  Court.  This  was  a 
society  which  had  its  beginning  on  Hadley  street,  then  known 
only  as  ''Lubber's  Hole."  It  was  not  the  object  of  this  organ- 
ization to  inculcate  habits  of  industry,  but  quite  the  reverse. 
All  members  who  were  guilty  of  any  unnecessary  exertion  were 
punished  by  fines,  and  each  was  expected  to  report  any  case  of 
this  kind  that  might  come  under  his  own  observation.  A  single 
instance  of  the  method  of  conducting  their  sessions  will  suffice. 
One  of  the  members  was  accused  of  having  run  violently  down 
the  hill  leading  from  the  park  to  the  house  of  Samuel  Judd,  now 
owned  by  F.  A.  Loomer.  The  point  of  the  story  is  lost  in  the 
telling,  for  the  steep  pitch  which  at  that  time  led  from  the  vil- 
lage is  unrecognizable  in  the  graded  hill  of  to-day.  After  the 
testimony  of  the  witnesses  had  been  taken,  the  judge  asked  the 
offender  in  a  stern  voice  what  excuse  he  could  offer  why  judg- 
ment should  not  be  pronounced  against  him.  He  replied  that  the 
facts  as  stated  were  true,  but  he  found  it  was  harder  to  stop 
than  to  keep  on  running,  and  so  carried  out  the  principles  of  the 
society.  His  discharge  was  immediately  ordered.  The  next 
culprit,  having  attempted  on  a  warm  summer's  day  to  jump 


200  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

across  the  brook  near-by,  missed  the  farther  bank  and  fell  back 
into  the  water.  When  permitted  by  the  judge  to  speak  in  his 
own  defense  he  asserted  that  he  had  broken  none  of  the  rules 
of  the  order.  ''It  was  a  sultry  day  and  I  wanted  to  sit  in  the 
water  in  order  to  keep  cool.  It  is  my  privilege  to  choose  such  a 
place  for  myself  if  I  find  it  contributes  to  my  comfort,  and  no 
^man  has  a  right  to  interfere."  "True,  true,"  murmured  the 
judge,  "let  his  fine  be  remitted." 

Aged  people  frowned  upon  these  frivolities,  and  shook  their 
heads  at  the  attempt  to  introduce  the  burning  of  charcoal  as  a 
means  of  heating  the  South  Hadley  houses.  They  said  it  was 
not  much  like  the  olden  days ;  then  every  week  a  horse  dragged 
into  the  kitchen  a  big  backlog,  so  heavy  that  they  could  hardly 
roll  it  into  the  fireplace.  But  the  dear  old  grandmother,  sitting 
in  the  chimney  corner,  whispered  softly  to  herself,  "Old  times 
are  always  best." 


3 


H 


CHAPTEE  ELEVENTH 

SOUTH   HADLEY   FALLS 

ISTOEIANS  tell  us  that  the  first  navigable  canal  in  the 
United  States  was  situated  in  that  part  of  South  Hadley 
originally  called  Taylor's  Field.  It  was  begun  during  the 
first  decade  after  the  Revolution,  and  soon  impressed  its  name 
upon  the  thriving  little  settlement  at  its  base,  which  was  for 
nearly  half  a  century  known  as  the  Canal  Village.  It  was  looked 
upon  as  a  wonder,  being  between  two  and  three  miles  in  length, 
and  a  portion  of  it  is  still  visible  from  the  Head  Road,  a  highway 
so  named  because  it  skirted  the  head  of  the  canal. 

Visitors  flocked  from  far  and  near  to  see  this  new  method 
of  diverting  a  part  of  the  river  for  the  purpose  of  conveying 
boats  past  the  rapids.  The  well-to-do  farmers  came  on  horse- 
back, their  wives  sitting  on  pillions  behind  them,  while  the  poor 
yeomanry  rode  in  ox  carts.  At  rare  intervals  a  two-wheeled 
chaise  appeared,  from  which  looked  forth  the  serious  face  of 
some  neighboring  minister,  but  the  proudest  equipage  of  all 
was  the  long  wagon  with  paneled  sides,  wherein  the  young  peo- 
ple disported  themselves.  It  was  called  a  Thoroughbrace,  and 
had  no  springs,  the  body  being  suspended  by  leather  straps. 
It  jolted  over  the  rough  roads  most  unmercifully,  but  little  cared 
they. 

All  found  it  a  most  attractive  spot.  The  towpath  beside  the 
canal  was  fringed  with  lofty  sycamores,  and  towering  maples, 
dotted  here  and  there  with  hemlock  green.  Their  lower  branches 
were  festooned  with  sprays  of  wild  clematis,  and  the  clinging 
tendrils  of  the  frost  grape.  In  every  crevice  where  they  could 
find  a  foothold,  red  and  yellow  honeysuckles  were  nodding  to 
the  ferns,  while  above  them,  later  on,  the  bittersweet  would  do 
its  best  to  replace  their  lively  hues. 

It  was  easy  work  towing  through  the  canal,  requiring  but 
a  single  horse  and  its  driver,  while  in  order  to  bring  boats  up 
the  river  from  Willimansett  to  the  foot  of  the  South  Hadley 
Falls,  it  was  necessary  to  use  in  addition  several  pairs  of  oxen. 


202  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

Freshets  and  other  leveling  processes  of  nature  have  al- 
ready filled  up  a  great  part  of  the  canal. 

For  more  than  half  a  century  before  the  establishment  of 
this  new  waterway,  boards,  lumber,  and  sometimes  produce,  had 
been  brought  down  from  Northampton  and  Hadley  upon  rafts, 
or  freight  boats,  and  were  landed  at  the  mouth  of  Stony  Brook. 
From  here  they  were  carted  across  the  fields  to  a  point  just  be- 
low the  free  bridge. 

This  trespass  upon  private  lands  aroused  violent  opposi- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  owners,  who  perhaps  failed  to  consider 
that  if  the  circuitous  highways  already  laid  out  were  followed  it 
would  lead  them  through  South  Hadley  Center,  thus  more  than 
doubling  the  distance.  From  this  cause  arose  the  most  bitter 
animosities  between  neighbors.  One  of  the  first  innkeepers  in 
Falls  Woods,  a  bustling,  energetic  man,  combined  the  three 
offices  of  captain,  landlord  and  teamster. 

One  day  in  December,  1744,  wishing  to  drive  across  the  field 
of  an  impetuous  young  man,  who  owned  a  large  section  of  land 
in  this  region,  the  Captain  began  taking  down  the  fence  in  order 
to  obtain  an  entrance.  This  action  being  seen  by  the  owner, 
he  was  promptly  ordered  to  desist.  An  exciting  contest  ensued, 
a  contest  which  was  not  wholly  confined  to  words.  The  matter 
was  carried  before  the  Church,  the  usual  tribunal  for  adjusting 
such  cases. 

Public  opinion  seemed  to  favor  the  land  owner,  and  it  was 
expected  that  the  Captain  would  make  a  public  confession,  but 
nothing  was  farther  from  his  intentions.  He  was  recorded  as 
having  been  ''Guilty  of  a  breach  of  gospel  rule,  in  his  violently 
pulling  down,  or  attempting  to  pull  down,  the  fence  in  order 
to  force  his  way  through  with  his  team. ' ' 

The  matter  was  kept  in  abeyance  until  the  following  June, 
when  the  Captain  called  an  ex-parte  council  at  his  own  expense. 
The  ministers  came  in  the  afternoon  and  were  ready  to  begin 
work  at  about  six  o  'clock  the  next  morning.  Notice  of  this  meet- 
ing had  been  given  out  on  the  previous  Sabbath,  and  all  mem- 
bers of  the  church  were  invited  to  be  present.     This  being  the 


SOUTH  HADLEY  FALLS  203 

very  busiest  season  of  the  year,  there  was  likely  to  be  but  a 
meager  attendance. 

The  shrewdness  of  the  Captain  was  now  made  manifest,  for 
the  famous  Jonathan  Edwards,  of  Northampton,  was  a  member 
of  the  council.  He  had  always  been  a  firm  friend  of  the  Eev. 
Grindall  Rawson,  while  the  land  owner  was  one  of  the  young  men 
who  about  three  years  before  had  forcibly  dragged  our  first  min- 
ister from  his  pulpit — possibly  the  celebrated  divine  was  not  al- 
lowed to  forget  this  fact,  for  certain  it  is  that  the  verdict  of  the 
council  said  decidedly  that  the  church  had  no  right  to  require  a 
public  acknowledgment  from  the  Captain.  The  church  was 
compelled  to  acquiesce  in  this  decision.  The  Captain  was  once 
more  allowed  to  partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  afterwards 
it  was  made  one  of  our  bj-laws  that  ^'If  any  man  communed 
with  another,  knowing  of  unchristian  conduct  on  his  part,  he 
could  not  afterward  complain  of  him. ' ' 

Ten  years  later  we  find  the  Captain  obtaining  permission 
by  vote  of  the  town  to  make  an  agreement  ''with  several  per- 
sons to  cross  their  lands  with  lumber  in  the  Falls  Field  and 
Taylor's  Field." 

Within  a  few  years  after  these  events  South  Hadley  was 
asked  by  some  of  the  towns  north  of  us  to  lay  out  a  new  road 
through  Falls  Woods,  but  little  attention  was  paid  to  this  re- 
quest. 

In  1766  the  selectmen  offered  to  give  William  Taylor  three 
pounds  if  he  would  make  and  maintain  a  good  cart  bridge  over 
Buttery  Brook,  near  its  mouth,  he  agreeing  to  keep  the  same  in 
good  repair  for  ten  years. 

It  is  claimed  that  North  Main  street  was  the  first  highway 
laid  out  in  that  part  of  the  town,  and  for  nearly  a  century  it 
was  known  as  the  Carrying  Way,  because  it  was  the  one  used 
for  the  transportation  of  lumber. 

In  the  early  times  the  leading  industry  of  South  Hadley 
Falls  was  the  fisheries.  Every  spring  thousands  upon  thousands 
of  shad,  salmon  and  bass  came  up  from  the  ocean  and  ascended 
the  Connecticut  River,  sometimes  as  far  as  Vermont.  Shad  were 
at  first  so  plentiful  they  were  either  sold  at  a  cent  apiece  or 


204  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

thrown  back  into  the  river,  and  eating  them  was  looked  upon  as 
the  badge  of  poverty. 

An  old  gentleman  once  told  the  author  that  when  he  was  a 
boy  his  family  used  them  as  an  article  of  food  and  sometimes 
sent  him  out  to  catch  them,  but  he  was  so  much  ashamed  of  his 
errand  that  if  he  saw  anyone  coming  he  hid  the  shad  among 
the  bushes.  There  was  one  place,  however,  where  they  were 
most  certainly  welcome. 

During  the  Revolutionary  War  our  town  sent  to  the  army  its 
full  quota  of  beef  and  pork,  and  we  are  told  that  during  their 
season  hundreds  of  shad  were  barreled  and  forwarded  to  an 
appreciative  soldiery. 

Salmon  were  looked  upon  as  a  more  valuable  species  of 
fish,  and  we  find  from  the  account  book  of  one  of  our  old  school 
teachers  that  in  1762  he  paid  for  them  at  the  rate  of  two  pence 
per  pound. 

Since  there  was  always  a  dearth  of  fresh  meat  in  the  sum- 
mer time,  every  man  was  expected  to  have  in  his  cellar  one 
barrel  of  salt  pork,  two  of  corned  beef,  and  a  keg  of  salt  salmon. 

The  shad  and  salmon  were  caught  in  what  were  called  sweep 
nets,  which  often  were  three  or  four  hundred  feet  in  length. 
These  meshes  were  usually  five  inches  square  in  order  that  the 
small  fishes  might  escape.  The  method  of  using  this  net  is  thus 
described  by  an  old  fisherman: 

"Swinging  out  from  the  bank  in  their  boat,  the  four  men 
who  drew  the  net  went  straight  out  for  about  twenty  rods, 
then  turning  almost  at  right  angles  they  went  down  stream  about 
ten  rods  more,  and  then  swung  again  toward  shore. 

"All  this  time  the  hurrying  current  was  carrying  along  the 
net,  and  the  fish,  which  had  been  seeking  the  upper  waters  of 
the  river,  found  themselves  suddenly  fenced  in.  Shouting  to 
the  shoreman  to  keep  his  end  of  the  net  steady,  the  men  in  the 
boat  set  toward  the  shore  until  the  net  took  on  the  shape  of  the 
letter  'U.' 

"The  men  in  their  hurry  to  haul  in  jumped  into  the  shal- 
low water  near  the  bank,  and  holding  down  the  lead  line  as  well 


SOUTH  HADLEY  PALLS  205 

as  they  could,  grasped  the  dripping  network  with  its  living 
freight  and  pulled  it  ashore." 

During  the  late  springtime  one  of  the  favorite  evening 
amusements  at  the  Canal  Village  was  going  eeling.  The 
lampreys  came  up  the  river  with  the  salmon  and  shad,  but  they 
could  ascend  the  rapids  more  easily  than  other  kinds  of  fish. 
They  would  dart  suddenly  forward,  then  by  means  of  their  curi- 
ously-shaped mouths  and  power  of  suction,  attach  themselves  to 
a  rock,  where  they  remained  suspended  until  sufficiently  rested 
for  a  second  effort.  This  process  being  several  times  repeated 
brought  them  to  the  head  of  the  falls.  They  were  deemed  un- 
welcome intruders,  for  their  clinging  mouths  made  them  a  men- 
ace to  other  fishes  larger  than  themselves.  As  an  article  of  food 
they  were  generally  despised  in  South  Hadley,  though  in  towns 
away  from  the  river  they  were  sometimes  valued. 

A  brief  description  of  one  of  these  excursions  through  the 
rapids  at  South  Hadley  Falls  will  perhaps  give  some  idea  of  its 
difficulties.  Landlord  Smith  had  offered  to  take  one  of  his  guests 
eeling  with  him. 

"All  was  ready  at  last  and  Smith,  having  placed  his  lan- 
tern upon  a  box  for  a  beacon,  pushed  off  the  boat.  A  sudden 
curve  of  the  river  at  this  point  formed  quite  an  eddy,  where 
the  still  water  contrasted  strangely  with  the  rushing  current  in 
the  channel.  Into  this  current  they  pushed  the  boat,  heading  it 
carefully  up  the  stream  and  keeping  as  near  the  shore  as  pos- 
sible. Then  began  the  struggle.  With  poles  in  hand  they  stood 
opposite  one  another,  the  landlord  being  on  the  river  side,  and 
pushed  with  might  and  main.  The  noise  of  rushing  water  al- 
lowed no  conversation  had  the  labor  of  poling  given  time,  but 
Davis  now  and  then  heard  his  companion  shouting  some  unin- 
telligible words  of  caution  or  encouragement. 

''After  a  time  they  came  under  a  steep  bank  which  rose 
fifteen  or  twenty  feet  from  the  water.  Passing  this  in  their 
toilsome  course,  they  reached  at  length  a  large  rock  which  sloped 
to  the  water's  edge  and  glistened  in  the  moonlight.  Just  north 
of  this  rose  another,  higher  and  steeper,  which  projected  into 


206  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

the  river.  The  boat  was  pushed  into  the  little  eddy  below  this 
rock  and  their  goal  was  reached. 

''The  tavernkeeper  having  fastened  the  boat,  said:  'There, 
Mr.  Davis,  is  what  I  call  my  pork  barrel.  The  Simsbury  and 
Suffield  folks  swap  pork  even  for  them,  barrel  for  barrel.  If 
you  want  to  see  something  to  surprise  you,  look  here!'  and  he 
pointed  with  proud  satisfaction  to  the  lower  side  of  the  rock. 
Davis  looked  as  desired,  and  at  first  could  make  nothing  of  the 
strange  spectacle. 

"On  the  surface  of  the  rock,  along  its  whole  circuit,  brown 
and  white  streamers,  one  or  two  feet  in  length,  were  fastened 
by  one  end  to  the  rock.  Not  one  dozen  nor  dozens,  but  hun- 
dreds of  them,  so  thick  together  that  no  pressure  could  crowd 
them  closer. 

"The  tavernkeeper  having  enjoyed  for  a  moment  his  guest's 
astonishment,  said,  with  proud  significance,  'Them's  lampers.' 
'But  what  are  they  doing  there?'  asked  Davis.  'Why,  they  are 
laying  up  for  the  night,  gone  to  bed  and  asleep  like  other  honest 
folks.  You  see,  they  have  been  following  the  shad  around  all 
day,  sucking  up  the  spawn  where  it  is  laid  in  the  soft  sand,  and 
at  night  they  just  catch  hold  of  a  rock  and  go  to  sleep ;  tliis  ap- 
pears to  be  a  favorite  place  for  them.' 

"By  this  time  Smith  had  thrown  off  his  coat,  rolled  up  his 
sleeves,  and  put  on  a  pair  of  coarse  mittens.  Kneeling  in  the 
bottom  of  the  boat,  he  reached  over  both  hands  and,  grasping  an 
eel  in  each,  threw  them  behind  him  into  the  boat.     *     *     * 

"The  boat  having  been  loaded  and  loosened,  was  brought 
close  under  the  rock  and  the  order  given  to  push  off.  Davis' 
vigorous  push  sent  them  well  into  the  stream  before  the  current 
seized  them.  *  *  *  g^t  the  most  skillful  will  sometimes 
slip,  and  it  is  not  therefore  to  be  wondered  at  that  when  the 
boat  was  swiftly  approaching  the  head  of  the  island  nearest  the 
shore,  as  Mr.  Smith  stepped  hastily  to  one  side  his  foot  slipped 
and  threw  him  into  the  river  with  his  cargo  in  close  company. 
When,  like  an  ancient  river  god,  he  had  risen  from  his  watery 
bed,  he  found  that  he  had  been  swept  around  immediately  in 
front  of  the  fish  house.    His  pole  came  thump  against  him,  and, 


SOUTH  HADLEY  FALLS  207 

with  its  assistance,  lie  waded  ashore.  As  he  reached  land  he 
saw  Davis  drawing  the  boat  up  on  the  beach,  and  made  his  way 
through  the  coarse  grass  and  willows  to  the  spot." 

The  lampreys  continued  to  reach  the  upper  level  above 
the  falls  until  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  Being  such 
expert  climbers,  they  were  able  to  ascend  the  new  fishway,  a 
feat  impossible  for  shad,  as  was  discovered  later  on. 

As  late  as  1848,  parties  of  men  from  Connecticut  came  an- 
nually to  the  Canal  Village,  boarding  at  the  house  of  the  Widow 
Judd,  and  remaining  sometimes  two  weeks  or  more  for  the  pur- 
pose of  eeling. 

Early  in  the  nineteenth  century  numberless  sturgeons  de- 
cided to  spend  the  summer  in  Vermont  or  Massachusetts,  and 
passed  this  town  in  their  ascent  of  the  Connecticut  Eiver.  They 
were  a  large,  coarse  fish,  often  eight  or  ten  feet  in  length,  and 
so  tough  they  were  considered  unfit  for  food.  But  we  read  that 
in  1809  Tom  Chandler,  an  eccentric  and  independent  person, 
''took  home  some  sturgeon  to  eat,  being  the  first  man  among 
those  acquainted  with  the  circumstances  who  ever  tried  the  ex- 
periment. ' ' 

Later  the  fashion  penetrated  to  the  Canal  Village,  and  a 
fish  pound,  or  sturgeon  coop,  was  installed.  When  the  water 
in  the  river  was  low  a  semi-circular  wall  of  stones  was  built  with 
an  opening  left  at  the  center  for  the  entrance  of  the  fish.  A  line 
of  upright  timbers  was  placed  at  intervals  across  this  opening, 
leaving  room  for  the  sturgeon  to  enter  between  them.  This  huge 
trap  was  baited  with  their  favorite  kinds  of  food,  and  when  once 
within  its  enclosure  the  fish  were  apt  to  swim  around  and  around 
without  noticing  the  means  of  escape. 

A  well-known  lawyer,  whose  boyhood  and  youth  were  spent 
in  South  Hadley  Falls,  used  to  tell  how  one  Sunday  morning 
word  was  brought  that  a  school  of  sturgeon  had  entered  the 
pound.  People  flocked  to  the  shore  and  the  fishermen  decided 
that  since  they  had  come  in  on  the  Lord's  Day,  they  should  be 
given  to  the  villagers.  Eeverence  for  the  Sabbath  would  not 
permit  them  to  be  taken  out  until  the  following  day.  In  the 
meantime  there  was  some  danger  of  their  escape,  but  the  minis- 


208  IX  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

ter  bade  them  trust  in  the  Lord  and  He  would  give  them  the 
desire  of  their  hearts,  and  the  next  morning  found  his  words 
verified,  for  the  fish  had  remained  in  the  pound. 

About  1800  a  society  was  organized  and  christened  the 
United  Enterprise  Fishing  Company.  After  a  time,  however,  it 
was  said  that  many  of  the  members  did  not  live  up  to  their  name. 
It  was  charged  that  in  the  morning  they  were  usually  late  at  the 
wharves,  and  that  after  each  haul  they  took  a  long  rest,  on  the 
plea  that  they  must  wait  for  the  fish  to  collect  in  the  eddies.  This 
led  some  facetious  individual  to  recall  the  words  of  Solomon, 
*'Go  to  the  ant,  thou  sluggard,  consider  her  ways  and  be  wise," 
and  he  named  them  the  Old  Sluggard  Company,  a  title  which 
clung  to  it  throughout  the  rest  of  its  existence,  yet  its  members 
were  not  inactive,  the  most  energetic  one  being  appointed  sales- 
man and  occupying  a  box  upon  the  beach. 

No  sooner  were  the  fish  landed  than  they  were  disposed  of 
to  the  crowd  of  waiting  purchasers.  Salmon  were  in  great  de- 
mand, the  supply  being  far  less  plentiful  than  during  the  pre- 
ceding century.  Shad  also  had  increased  in  price,  being  sold  in 
1816  at  ten  cents  apiece.  They  so  greatly  outnumbered  all  other 
kinds  of  fish  it  was  made  a  rule  that  if  a  man  purchased  a  twelve- 
pound  salmon  he  must  also  buy  twelve  shad,  or  the  bargain 
would  not  be  closed. 

Another  sluggard,  who  was  considered  a  good  accountant, 
was  placed  in  charge  of  the  bar  at  the  old  fish  house.  The 
latter  was  an  impainted,  one-roomed  structure,  standing  near 
the  junction  of  the  Beach  Road  and  the  highway  leading  to 
Granby.  Across  the  beams  within  this  old  fish  house  were 
placed  oars,  poles  and  boat  hooks,  while  one  side  of  the  room 
was  piled  with  nets  and  other  fishing  gear.  Upon  the  opposite 
side  stood  the  bar,  a  rough  wooden  counter  stretched  across  the 
corner.  Eeady  at  hand  were  toddy  stick  and  flip  iron,  with  mug, 
bowl,  pitcher  and  glass  to  be  used  when  needed.  The  wall  be- 
hind the  counter  served  as  day  book  and  ledger,  for  upon  it 
was  written  daily  each  man's  account.  The  fishermen  were  not 
paid  until  the  end  of  the  season,  but  at  that  time  all  indebtedness 
would  be  canceled. 


SOUTH  HADLEY  FALLS  209 

Sometimes  the  sluggards,  between  the  hauls  of  their  long 
sweep  net,  manned  a  boat  in  order  to  ascend  the  rapids  with 
their  scoop  nets.  This  was  somewhat  dangerous,  but  was  gener- 
ally attended  with  success,  and  the  boat  returned  well  laden. 

At  the  close  of  the  day's  work  the  last  boatload  was  re- 
tained for  the  use  of  the  sluggards,  the  division  of  which  was 
effected  in  the  following  manner:  One  of  their  number  was 
blindfolded  and  the  fish  were  placed  in  as  many  piles  as  there 
were  men  to  share  them.  The  blindfolded  man  was  then  led  to 
each  pile  and  named  the  person  to  whom  it  should  be  assigned. 
This  was  looked  upon  as  a  very  honest  and  impartial  method 
of  division. 

As  Hartford  and  the  towns  lower  down  established  fisheries 
of  their  own,  the  number  of  shad  and  salmon  that  ascended  the 
river  to  the  Canal  Village  became  less,  and  it  was  thought  best 
to  build  fishing  wharves  near  the  present  site  of  the  Free  Bridge. 
These  wharves,  some  half  dozen  in  number,  were  artificial 
islands  made  of  timbers  and  huge  stones;  they  were  wedge- 
shaped,  a  hundred  feet  in  length,  and  were  placed  one  hundred 
feet  apart,  and  parallel  to  the  shore.  The  freshets  soon  gave 
them  a  coating  of  soil  sufficient  to  sustain  a  scanty  vegetation, 
coarse  grass  and  stunted  willows.  From  these  points  of  van- 
tage the  old  sluggards,  armed  probably  with  long  poles,  fright- 
ened back  the  fish  that  were  seeking  to  enter  the  rapids,  thus 
making  them  an  easy  prey  to  the  men  below. 

Portions  of  these  old  wharves  are  still  visible  near  the 
bridge  in  low  water. 

In  apple-blossom  time,  the  Canal  Village  was  a  busy  spot 
with  throngs  of  people  passing  to  and  fro,  but  in  winter  the 
spirit  of  repose  seemed  to  have  fallen  upon  the  little  hamlet. 
"When  the  Connecticut  was  well  fettered  with  ice  and  snow,  ox 
teams  from  Hadley  would  call  at  some  house  near  the  landing 
to  inquire  if  it  were  safe  to  cross  the  river  with  a  load  on  their 
way  to  Springfield.  The  housekeeper  could  always  give  a 
prompt  reply  to  this  question.    A  basin  of  milk  was  kept  in  front 


210  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

of  the  buttery  window,  and  until  that  became  solid  to  the  very 
bottom  of  the  dish  the  ice  bridge  was  looked  upon  as  unsafe. 

The  long  winter  evenings  were  spent  by  the  men  of  the 
village  round  the  big  fireplaces  in  the  taverns.  Here  they  re- 
lated to  one  another  their  experiences  in  hunting  and  fishing, 
and  a  vivid  imagination  must  have  stood  sponsor  for  some  of 
these  tales.  Or  perhaps  they  told  stories  about  witches  and 
ghosts,  incited  thereto  by  reports  of  a  new  Witch  Hole  dis- 
covered in  the  Slipe,  a  hole  so  deep  that  the  longest  pole  could 
not  touch  the  bottom,  but  would  be  drawn  down  by  some  in- 
visible power  till  it  disappeared  from  sight.  Geological  kettles 
and  quicksands  were  not  at  that  time  as  well  understood  as  they 
now  are. 

Among  the  chaos  of  tales  that  have  survived  the  years,  one 
ghost  story  was  deemed  more  authentic  than  any  other  of  its 
kind.    It  was  thus  told  by  an  old  resident: 

''You  see,  just  after  old  Elder  Pendleton  gave  the  burying 
ground  to  the  Baptists,  there  was  a  fellow  with  a  mighty  fine 
horse  put  up  one  night  at  Colonel  Lambie's  tavern.  Before  he 
had  finished  his  supper,  along  comes  the  High  Sheriff,  and  claps 
onto  him  for  horse  stealing.  Well,  it  was  too  late  to  take  him 
off  to  Northampton  jail  that  night,  so  they  waited  until  morn- 
ing. But  before  morning  he  had  taken  poison  and  died.  So  he 
was  the  first  person  that  was  buried  there.  Some  fellows  who 
have  been  along  the  river  dark  nights  have  seen  him  streaking 
along  the  bank  on  horseback,  looking  over  his  shoulder  as  if  he 
was  followed.  When  he  gets  to  Catamount  Hollow,  he  puts  up 
the  brook  into  the  woods.    I  never  seen  him  myself." 

At  the  outset  the  fishermen's  tales  generally  had  some  foun- 
dation in  fact.  An  old  sluggard  would  describe  the  manner  in 
which  a  salmon  ascended  the  dam.  At  the  first  trial  it  failed. 
Then  it  went  down  stream  and  came  back  for  a  fresh  attempt, 
which  would  almost  enable  it  to  accomplish  the  feat.  But  fail- 
ing in  this,  it  went  still  further  back,  and  swimming  rapidly  up 
stream,  with  the  momentum  thus  acquired,  it  leaped  upward, 


SOUTH  HADLEY  FALLS  211 

clearing  the  dam  by  several  feet,  and  calmly  proceeded  on  its 
way  northward.* 

As  the  evening  waned,  the  stories  grew  more  and  more  im- 
probable, till  the  climax  was  reached  when  some  ancient  fisher- 
man told  how  his  grandfather  said  that  in  Kevolutionary  days 
the  shad  were  so  thick  in  the  river  during  the  month  of  May  that 
one  day,  wishing  to  cross  to  the  island,  and  not  being  able  to 
find  a  boat,  he  borrowed  a  pair  of  snow  shoes  and  walked  safely 
over  upon  the  backs  of  the  fishes. 

Nor  were  the  fabled  exploits  of  our  hunters  less  marvelous. 
The  cornfields  of  South  Hadley  had  been  devastated  by  crows 
and  blackbirds.  The  former,  instead  of  migrating,  spent  their 
winters  on  the  south  side  of  Mount  Tom,  and  were  invariably 
present  at  the  first  planting.  They  bade  open  defiance  to  the 
ragged  effigies  that  had  added  to  the  English  vocabulary  the 
word  ''scarecrow,"  and  continued  to  ravage  the  crops  till  the 
town  in  despair  offered  as  bounty  a  certain  fixed  sum  for  the 
old  crows  and  a  smaller  amount  for  the  younger  ones.  This  gave 
rise  to  so  much  controversy  in  regard  to  the  dividing  line  be- 
tween the  two  classes  that  a  committee  was  appointed  in  order  to 
settle  these  claims. 

The  favorite  boast  of  the  hunters  was  that  upon  one  occa- 
sion a  young  man  saw  twelve  of  these  thieves  sitting  side  by 
side  on  the  branch  of  a  large  tree.  Taking  careful  aim,  he  sent 
a  charge  of  shot  which  split  the  bark  of  the  branch  lengthwise. 
The  concussion  widened  the  cleft  for  an  instant,  just  long  enough 
for  the  startled  birds  to  spread  their  wings  for  flight,  but  clos- 
ing quickly  enough  to  make  them  prisoners,  their  toes  being 
held  firmly  in  the  bark  of  the  tree.  The  storji;eller  probably 
closed  with  the  same  statement  as  a  former  narrator,  that  he  had 
not  himself  witnessed  the  sight. 


♦The  salmon  has  the  power  of  swimming  with  great  velocity;  of  stemming 
rapid  rivers,  and  of  jumping  over  dams  and  waterfalls  of  considerable  height. 
It  has  been  known  to  spring  fourteen  feet  out  of  water,  and  to  describe  a  curve 
of  at  least  twenty  feet  in  order  to  surmount  a  cascade.  If  not  successful  at 
first,  it  perseveres  until  it  succeeds,  unless  the  obstruction  is  insurmountable." 
— Appleton's  Condensed  Encyclopedia,  page  520. 


;813  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

About  1830  a  company  was  organized,  and  steamboats  built, 
for  the  navigation  of  the  Connecticut.  These  boats  were  from 
sixty  to  ninety  feet  in  length,  and  were  capable  of  carrying  a 
hundred  persons,  though  they  seldom  had  that  number  of  pas- 
sengers. They  were  towed  through  the  canal  at  South  Hadley 
Falls,  on  their  way  to  and  from  Greenfield.*  They  were  very 
narrow,  being  on  the  average  but  fifteen  feet  wide;  this  led  a 
facetious  passenger  to  remark  that  he  always  kept  on  the  middle 
of  the  deck  lest  the  boat  should  tip  over.  The  cabin  might  have 
been  fitted  up  for  Tom  Thumb,  it  was  so  small,  but  the  little 
turkey-red  curtains  hanging  loosely  at  the  windows  gave  the 
one  touch  of  brightness  to  the  dingy  place.  The  engines  were 
crude  affairs  and  not  to  be  relied  upon  in  these  primitive  steam- 
boats ;  they  had  neither  steam  nor  water  gauges,  and  the  safety 
valves  often  proved  uncertain.  The  engineers  sometimes  pat- 
ronized the  bar,  which  was  to  be  found  in  every  boat.  Only  one 
accident  is  reported  as  having  taken  place  in  our  waters.  A 
steamboat  near  Smith's  Ferry,  whose  safety  valve  had  been  tied 
down,  exploded  its  boiler,  killing  three  men.  The  boats  were 
painted  white  and  are  said  to  have  always  been  kept  spick  and 
span.  Charles  Dickens,  in  his  American  Notes,  writes  of  them 
as  being  ''Half  a  pony  power."  Yet  in  going  from  Springfield 
to  Hartford,  they  sometimes  reached  the  latter  place  in  half  the 
time  consumed  by  the  stage  coach.  They  had  no  coal  for  their 
engines,  but  yellow  pine  wood  was  cut  into  lengths  of  three 
feet  each,  and  piled  at  intervals  near  the  shore,  where  the  steam- 

*Mr.  George  Lamb  of  South  Hadley  Falls  writes:  "These  boats  were  of 
the  stern-wheel  type,  which  so  disturbed  the  water  as  to  wash  and  damage  the 
canal  bank.  To  overcome  this  difficulty,  there  were  numerous  inventions,  which, 
however,  did  not  prove  practical. 

"Luther  Alvord,  a  resident  of  Falls  Woods,  contrived  a  very  ingenious 
device  for  a  canal  boat  propeller,  having  a  small  model  that  he  operated  at  the 
mouth  of  Stony  Brook,  It  was  considered  very  ingenious,  but  too  complicated 
to  be  adopted. 

"Another  model  was  built  by  a  man  named  Durkins,  of  the  'New  City' 
(now  Holyoke).  He  had  a  device  for  propellers  opening  and  spreading  against 
the  water,  backward  and  forward,  like  the  feet  of  a  duck.  The  trial  of  this  boat 
did  not  prove  a  success,  and  it  was  finally  towed  back  into  the  canal,  not  being 
able  to  make  progress  against  the  current,  and  being  in  imminent  danger  of 
going  over  the  dam. 

"The  swing  ferry  at  the  Falls  was  considered  the  most  prosperous  on  the 
river,  not  only  in  regard  to  the  immense  traffic,  but  also  the  rapid  trips  and  the 
ease  of  operation  made  possible  by  the  strong  current." 


SOUTH  HADLEY  FALLS  213 

boats  could  load  it  easily.  These  boats  began  running  early  in 
spring,  sometimes  even  in  February,  and  continued  in  service  till 
the  following  winter.  The  last  steamboat  that  ever  passed 
through  the  canal  entered  it  on  Thanksgiving  day,  1847.  George 
Lamb  and  another  boy  had  gone  down  intending  to  skate  near 
the  head  of  the  canal.  As  they  were  testing  the  strength  of  the 
ice  with  their  spike  poles,  they  heard  a  grinding,  cracking  sound 
behind  them,  and  looked  back  to  see  a  boat  crushing  a  path  down 
the  narrow  waterway.  It  forced  its  way  through  the  canal,  but 
never  returned,  for  the  Hadley  Falls  Company  bought  the  water 
privilege,  and  the  next  year  built  the  great  dam,  whose  sorry 
fate  is  too  well  known  to  need  repetition. 

The  coming  of  "Lection  Day"  was,  a  century  ago,  a  great 
event  in  South  Hadley  Falls.  Even  the  glories  of  Independence 
Day  paled  before  the  delights  of  this  annual  carnival.  The  scene 
upon  the  beach  was  thus  described  by  a  resident  of  the  Canal 
Village : 

"On  this  day  at  Springfield,  Northampton,  and  the  other 
larger  towns,  the  militia  were  out  for  their  annual  training,  but 
take  the  county  through,  nowhere  could  be  found  a  larger 
crowd,  or  more  that  was  worth  seeing,  than  at  the  Canal  Vil- 
lage. Here  were  no  end  of  sunburned  farmers,  wearing  knee 
breeches,  long  waistcoats  of  homespun,  and  stout,  buckled  shoes. 
Hats,  low-crowned  and  broad  of  brim,  shaded  their  clean-shaven 
faces,  and  their  long  queues.  The  hot  sun  forced  them  to  carry 
on  their  arms  their  short-waisted  coats,  with  broad  lapels  and 
tremendous  swallowtails.  Here  and  there  a  man  appeared  in 
his  farmyard  dress,  a  long  brown  frock  of  undyed  tow  cloth. 
Kivermen  and  others  who  now  and  then  visited  Hartford  were 
distinguishable  by  a  change  in  dress.  To  be  sure,  it  was  only  a 
lengthening  of  knee  breeches,  so  as  to  button  at  the  ankles ;  but 
what  an  absurd  name  this  garment  had — 'Pantaloon!'  Those 
who  wore  these  pantaloons  had  a  strange  way  of  fastening  their 
shoes  with  strings  instead  of  buckles.  How  Frenchified  every- 
thing was  getting!  But  if  the  men  were  comical  in  their  new 
style  of  dress,  what  should  be  said  of  the  women?  Just  look 
at  those  dashing  young  people  from  Northampton,  who  set  the 


/ 


214  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

fashions  for  the  country  round.  They  were  very  lively  in  that 
two-horse  wagon,  with  its  brace  of  double-chair  seats.  How  the 
good  wives  and  daughters  from  the  hill  towns,  looking  out  from 
the  recesses  of  their  gig-topped  calashes,  wondered  at  the  little 
helmet-shaped  bonnets,  or  the  straw  caps  with  visors,  which 
perched  upon  the  frizzled  heads  of  the  young  women.  But  those 
criticizing  girls  from  the  hills,  poor  things,  probably  had  noth- 
ing but  little  bits  of  looking-glasses  at  home  that  did  not  show 
their  red  or  butternut-colored  flannel  gowns,  tied  about  the 
waists  with  black  ribbons,  and  gathered  at  the  necks  with  green 
ones.  There  were  others  in  the  great  concourse  besides  farmer 
folks,  rivermen  and  dolls  of  fashion.  It  was  only  on  Election 
Day  at  Canal  Village  that  so  many  curious  characters  were  to 
be  seen. 

''Here  was  a  man  on  horseback  with  a  load  of  strange-look- 
ing articles  behind  him,  which  he  was  trying  to  sell.  'Only 
fourpence  for  a  corn  broom  that  will  out-sweep  and  out-last  all 
the  birch  brooms  and  split  brooms  in  creation.  You  farmer 
folks  had  better  go  home  and  plant  broom  corn.  I  tell  you  ihe 
time  is  coming  when  the  corn  broom  business  will  be  a  bigger 
thing  than  all  your  fishing,  potashes,  and  what  not.  You  folks 
had  better  buy  two  brooms  apiece,  and  take  one  home  to  use 
and  the  other  to  keep,  so  as  to  remember  the  first  time  you  ever 
saw  a  corn  broom.' 

"Farther  on  an  indigo  peddler,  stained  with  his  own  wares, 
was  supplying  housewives  with  provision  for  their  dye  tubs. 
Beyond  him  was  a  Scotch-Irishman  from  Pelham,  opening  his 
pack  to  exhibit  the  beautiful  linen  cloth  and  thread  for  which 
his  townswomen  were  unrivaled.  Now  came  tin  peddlers  from 
Berlin,*  very  keen  for  a  trade. 

"Next  came  another  Connecticut  man,  offering  funny  little 

♦President  Dwight  of  Yale  College  tells  us  that  tinware  was  first  manufac- 
tured in  this  country  at  Berlin,  Conn.,  by  William  Pattison,  in  1740.  After  the 
Revolution,  the  business  was  carried  on  by  young  men  who  had  learned  the  art 
from  Mr.  Pattison.  For  many  years  the  only  method  used  by  peddlers  for  con- 
veying tinware  to  distant  towns  was  by  means  of  a  horse  with  two  baskets 
balanced,  one  upon  each  side.  After  the  war  carts  and  wagons  began  to  be 
used  for  this  purpose. 


SOUTH  HADLEY  FALLS  215 

wooden  clocks,  without  cases,  and  intended  to  be  hung  against 
the  wall;  wonderfully  cheap,  only  twenty-five  dollars,  and  the 
peddler  would  take  anything  in  trade. 

*^Such  were  some  of  the  characters  that  added  zest  to  this 
rare  break  in  the  dull  uniformity  of  country  life. 

''As  fishing  had  been  suspended  for  the  rest  of  the  day, 
some  exciting  substitute  was  needed,  and  arrangements  had 
been  made  for  trials  of  strength  and  skill.  The  ground  selected 
was  at  the  upper  end  of  the  beach.  *  *  *  When  every  pre- 
liminary had  been  settled,  and  all  boys  removed  from  within  the 
lines,  ofiicial  announcement  was  made  of  the  various  prizes. 

*'The  quoits  of  rounded  stone  were  first  produced,  and  after 
a  long  contest,  Springfield  and  Northampton  were  beaten  by 
Hadley.  Next  came  the  shooting.  A  piece  of  white  paper  five 
inches  square  was  fastened  to  a  tree  for  a  mark.  The  marks 
men  took  their  stand  fifty  yards  away.  Selden  and  Smith  of 
Hadley,  Birge  and  Alexander  of  Northampton,  and  young 
Moody  of  Granby,  all  famous  hunters,  exhibited  their  skill  amid 
great  applause.  *  *  *  Then  came  the  wrestling  match. 
Time  will  not  allow  a  full  account  of  the  'Indian  hug'  with  which 
Dunham*  mastered  all  opponents,  or  his  discomfiture  in  the 
running  jump  by  a  slim  youth  from  Skipmuck. 

"Next  came  the  lifting.  Robinson  of  Granville  was 
promptly  on  hand  when  the  trial  was  called.  While  he  rolled 
up  his  sleeves,  stories  of  his  great  strength  circulated  through 
the  crowd,  but  no  one  came  forward  to  meet  him.  He  glanced 
scornfully  over  the  assemblage,  and  called  for  the  man  who 
dared  try  him.  A  group  of  men  were  urging  a  companion  who 
towered  a  good  head  above  them :  '  Go  in,  Capen,  you  can  whip 
two  of  him!'  'I  guess  I  can,'  answered  the  Captain,  with  a 
mellow  laugh.  Accordingly  the  good-natured  man  took  him- 
self into  the  ring,  to  the  great  delight  of  the  crowd,  for  all  dwell- 
ers by  the  river  knew  what  Captain  Henry  Strong  could  do. 


*Years  before  Mr.  Dunham  had  been  misled  into  joining  in  Shay's  Insurrec- 
tion. Later  on  he  reinstated  himself  in  the  respect  of  his  fellow  townsmen  by 
saving  the  life  of  Enos  Woodbridge  (the  son  of  our  second  minister)  on  the 
evening  when  the  scattered  troops  of  Daniel  Shay  raided  the  town  of  South 
Hadley. 


216  m  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

Among  the  piles  of  merchandise  lay  some  barrels  of  cider.  Rob- 
inson rolled  one  of  these  to  the  side  of  a  box  about  four  feet 
high,  and  seizing  the  barrel  at  each  end,  lifted  it  by  sheer 
strength  onto  the  box.  The  applause  which  greeted  this  feat 
gave  him  time  to  recover  his  breath  before  lifting  the  barrel 
down  again.  '  There 's  your  stunt, '  said  he,  wiping  the  perspira- 
tion from  his  face.  'We  rivermen  generally  take  toll  on  such 
things,'  replied  the  Captain;  loosening  the  bung  with  a  stone 
and  placing  it  upon  a  clean  tuft  of  grass,  the  boatman  easily 
lifted  the  barrel  to  his  mouth  and  took  a  hearty  drink.  'Per- 
haps you'll  take  a  pull,'  remarked  the  Captain,  depositing  the 
barrel  at  Robinson's  feet.  The  Granville  champion  was  bound 
to  accept  the  challenge,  and  fairly  earned  his  drink  before  he 
succeeded  in  getting  it.  In  the  meantime  Captain  Strong  was 
arranging  for  another  trial.  Two  strong  planks  were  leaned 
against  a  pile  of  timbers ;  his  friends  rolled  forward  a  hogshead 
of  molasses,  and  it  lay  ready  at  the  foot  of  the  plank.  'We've 
had  boy's  play,  and  now  we'll  try  some  grown  men's  work,' 
said  the  Captain.  He  bared  his  arms  and  rolled  the  hogshead, 
hand  over  hand,  to  the  top  of  the  incline.  There  he  held  it  for 
a  moment,  while  all  wondered  whether  he  could  possibly 
jump  aside  in  time  to  escape  being  crushed  when  he  let  go  of  it. 
But  their  fears  were  needless,  for  he  rolled  it  easily  back  to  the 
ground,  and  courteously  stepped  aside  to  make  way  for  Robin- 
son. The  champion,  however,  declined  the  trial,  saying  he  was 
no  boatman  to  go  rolling  things  round;  what  he  wanted  was  a 
clean  lift.  'Well,'  returned  Captain  Strong,  'you  gave  me  a  fair 
stunt,  and  I  done  it.  Then  I  stumped  you,  and  you — well,  we'll 
allow  you  done  it.  And  then  I  stumped  you  again,  and  you 
daresent  try;  that's  all  I've  got  to  say  now.'  At  this  moment 
word  came  that  Captain  Strong's  boat  was  about  to  enter  the 
canal,  and  he  was  soon  on  his  way,  amid  the  hearty  cheers  of  the 
crowd."     *     *     * 

"I  don't  see  as  there  is  any  great  call  for  girls  to  spin,"  said 
a  middle-aged  visitor,  whose  white  shirt  told  that  he  was  no 
Hampshire  County  man.  "Down  in  Rhode  Island  an  English- 
man has  a  big  mill  where  he  uses  water  to  spin  with.    Land  near 


SOUTH  HADLEY  FALLS  217 

the  waterfalls  that  you  could  have  bought  five  years  ago  for  a 
hundred  dollars  an  acre  is  now  worth  fifteen  hundred."  "My 
sakes ! ' '  exclaimed  Smith,  '  *  perhaps  if  they  knew  of  these  falls, 
they'd  try  here.  There's  water  enough,  I  guess,  for  the  two 
saw  mills  don't  near  use  it  all."  ''There  is  a  considerable  pow- 
erful fall  here,"  allowed  the  other,  "but  this  is  too  far  west, 
too  far  from  Boston.  This  will  always  be  a  lumbering  and  fish- 
ing river,  I  guess.  I  am  not  afraid  to  say  there  will  never  be 
such  a  thing  as  a  cotton  mill  so  far  back  in  the  country." 

"With  the  expression  of  these  and  kindred  sentiments,  the 
company  left  the  beach,  which  had  faintly  imaged  a  county  fair, 
and  in  the  crowded  taverns  a  good  supper  and  the  evening  dance 
rounded  out  the  festivities  of  the  day. 

In  process  of  time  the  number  of  outside  guests  at  the  Canal 
Village  lessened,  though  Election  Day  was  still  esteemed  a  gala 
occasion,  and  the  journey  up  to  South  Hadley  Center,  which 
was  then  the  only  polling  place,  was  sometimes  a  thing  worthy 
of  note. 

In  1840  a  spirited  contest  arose  between  the  whigs  and 
the  locofocos,  as  the  Democrats  were  then  called.  William 
Henry  Harrison  was  the  whig  candidate  for  the  presidency, 
and  was  known  as  Tippecanoe,  on  account  of  his  having  won 
the  battle  of  that  name  in  the  war  with  the  Indians.  The  old 
refrain,  "Tippecanoe  and  Tyler,  too,"  was  borne  upon  every 
wind  that  swept  through  the  gap  in  the  mountains,  and  the  Falls 
people  decided  to  let  the  uptown  locos  see  what  they  could  do. 
Accordingly,  a  short  time  before  election,  the  men  at  the  Canal 
Village  built  a  long  platform,  which  was  placed  upon  wheels. 
Upon  this  was  erected  a  log  cabin,  modeled  after  the  old  one  at 
North  Bend.  Through  the  stove  pipe,  which  did  duty  for  a 
chimney,  issued  a  fine  column  of  smoke,  as,  with  ten  yoke  of 
oxen  to  draw  it,  they  started  for  the  Center. 

The  log  cabin  was  eight  feet  long,  and  above  its  open  door 
one  could  read,  "Tippecanoe's  door,  whose  latch  string  is  never 
pulled  in."  Above  the  heads  of  the  leading  pair  of  oxen  was 
framed  a  large  banner,  and  the  most  radical  among  the  whigs 
carried  pocket  handkerchiefs  more  than  two  feet  square,  upon 


218  m  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

which  were  imprinted  pictures  of  General  Harrison  on  horse- 
back, the  Capitol  at  Washington,  the  log  house,  etc.  Concealed 
in  one  corner  of  the  cabin,  as  the  procession  of  voters  marched 
up  the  road,  was  a  keg  of  cider  and  a  huge  bag  of  crackers. 
There  was  to  be  an  address  in  the  interests  of  Harrison,  and 
his  adherents  left  their  cortege  east  of  the  meeting  house  and 
seated  themselves  in  the  church,  ready  to  listen  to  the  speaker. 

Under  the  able  leadership  of  Dexter  Ingraham  there  was 
first  an  interval  of  patriotic  music  that  stirred  the  pulse  of  every 
whig,  but  hardly  was  the  address  well  begun  when  the  locos  stole 
softly  out  of  the  house. 

Political  feeling  at  this  time  ran  high  at  the  Center,  as  was 
shown  by  an  incident  that  occurred  here  during  this  campaign. 
''Uncle  Sim"  and  "Uncle  Joel,"  as  they  were  familiarly  called, 
were  near  neighbors,  the  former  being  an  ardent  whig  and  the 
latter  a  decided  Democrat.  One  day  Uncle  Sim,  on  his  way  to 
Northampton,  overtook  his  neighbor,  also  on  the  road  to  the 
Meadow  City,  and  invited  him  to  ride.  Unfortunately  the  con- 
versation took  a  political  turn,  and  after  two  or  three  miles 
both  men  became  so  excited  that  Uncle  Sim  stopped  his  horse 
and  asked  his  companion  to  alight.  Uncle  Joel  begged  to  stay 
in,  promising  that  he  would  not  mention  the  name  of  Harrison 
again.  ''No,"  replied  the  other  firmly,  "my  horse  is  just  as 
good  a  whig  as  I  am,  and  he  refuses  to  carry  you  a  step  farther. ' ' 
So  Uncle  Joel  plodded  slowly  on  to  Northampton.  His  fellow 
politicians,  however,  did  not  allow  this  slight  to  pass  unavenged, 
for  after  the  exercises  in  the  church  were  finished  on  that  mem- 
orable day,  when  the  whigs  repaired  to  the  log  cabin  for 
refreshment,  they  found  the  keg  of  cider  empty,  and  of  the 
crackers  only  a  few  crumbs  remained. 

But  upon  the  day  of  Harrison's  inauguration,  the  victori- 
ous whigs  had  their  innings.  A  brass  cannon  was  brought  up 
from  Chicopee  and  stationed  upon  the  beach.  A  feast  was  pre- 
pared in  the  old  tavern  near  the  present  site  of  the  Glasgow 
Mill,  and  a  series  of  signals  with  flags  was  arranged  so  that  the 
gunner  might  know  when  to  fire.  Captain  Calvin  Goodman  was 
requested  to  give  a  toast.     He  rose  gravely  and  said:  "The 


1 


SOUTH  HADLEY  FALLS  219 

locofoco  party:  a  wheel  without  a  single  spoke  in  it."  Then 
the  cannon  boomed,  and  the  thunders  of  applause,  it  is  said, 
shook  the  house  to  its  very  lowest  foundations. 

After  the  close  of  the  Eevolution,  it  was  said  that  every 
family  in  the  Canal  Village  owned  either  a  horse  or  a  yoke  of 
oxen,  which  on  Sunday  gave  them  conveyance  to  the  church 
uptown.  But  as  years  went  on,  mills  were  erected  and  many  of 
the  new  inhabitants  were  compelled  to  walk  the  long,  circuitous 
road  through  Falls  Woods,  there  being  at  that  time  no  other 
highway  between  South  Hadley  Center  and  the  Falls.  Perhaps 
the  most  welcome  of  these  new  industries  was  the  salt  mill. 
Previous  to  this,  every  family  must  own  an  iron  mortar  and 
pestle,  wherein  the  hard  crystals  of  salt  could  be  pounded  to  a 
powder.  This  was  wearisome  work  for  the  young  people,  and 
they  hailed  with  delight  the  ''salt  house"  of  Josiah  Bardwell, 
which  was  working  in  1824.  Here  were  ground  the  great  lumps 
of  salt  brought  from  Nantucket.  The  late  R.  0.  Dwight,  whose 
value  as  a  historian  only  those  who  have  studied  carefully  the 
archives  of  our  town  can  fully  understand,  says  that  at  first 
''It  was  sold  in  bulk,  being  weighed  out  to  purchasers  as  sugar 
is  now."  Later  on  a  new  firm  "Introduced  an  improvement 
by  selling  their  salt  in  cloth  bags,  each  holding  a  specified 
weight  ....  The  novelty  took  at  once,  and  spread  from 
South  Hadley  Falls  all  over  the  country." 

About  this  time  Rev.  Joel  Hayes  resigned  his  pastorate  at 
South  Hadley,  and  a  call  was  extended  to  Rev.  Artemus  Boies, 
with  the  proviso  that  as  often  as  every  third  Sunday  he  should 
preach  at  the  Canal  Village,  taking  his  congregation  with  him. 
This  seemed  to  him  like  having  the  care  of  two  parishes,  and 
being  in  delicate  health,  he  refused  to  accept  upon  such  condi- 
tions. He  was  then  invited  to  become  our  pastor,  but  to  preach 
only  at  the  Center,  and  to  this  call  he  sent  an  affirmative  reply. 
The  dwellers  by  the  river  now  concluded  that  it  was  high  time 
for  them  to  start  a  new  organization  of  their  own.  They  were 
already  in  the  habit  of  holding  prayer  meetings  in  the  Canal 
Village,  and  in  1784  they  had  asked  to  have  the  control  of  their 
own  school  money,  and  it  had  been  granted.    The  Baptists  had 


220  IN  OLD  SOUTH  HADLEY 

commenced  a  preaching  service  years  before.  In  1785  Rev. 
John  Pendleton  officiated,  and  four  years  later  Rev.  Mr.  Dodge 
started  a  Baptist  church.  Before  1805  this  had  been  merged 
in  the  Holyoke  church,  for  at  that  time  South  Hadley  voted 
"To  excuse  the  Baptists  from  paying  a  minister's  tax."  The 
assessors  accordingly  sent  a  portion  of  that  year's  taxes  to 
Elder  Rand. 

In  1824  Rev.  Eli  Moody  began  preaching  in  what  was  called 
the  Brick  Chapel.  He  writes  concerning  this:  "My  audience 
room  was  in  the  second  story,  the  stairs  leading  up  to  it  being 
on  the  outside  of  the  house,  and  all  the  accommodation  for  sit- 
tings was  rough  plank  or  slat  seats,  without  any  backs  to  them. 
This  room  had  previously  been  loaned  to  the  people  of  the  vil- 
lage for  religious  meetings.  In  this  room  I  preached  three 
months. ' ' 

At  the  expiration  of  that  time  the  place  was  arranged  with 
"Comfortable  pews  and  a  neat  and  pleasant  pulpit." 

At  the  installation  of  Rev.  William  Tyler,  in  1832,  some 
fears  were  expressed  lest  the  floor  of  the  Brick  Chapel  would 
not  be  strong  enough  to  sustain  the  weight  of  the  crowd  who 
would  be  present,  and  the  exercises  were  held  in  the  Ames  Paper 
Mill,  which  was  then  in  the  course  of  erection. 

The  first  church  edifice  was  built  in  1835,  and  became  the 
home  of  the  South  Evangelical  Society,  which  had  been  organ- 
ized eleven  years  before,  and  whose  original  membership  of  nine- 
teen had  been  much  increased. 

From  one  of  their  later  ministers,  we  quote  the  following: 
"I  was  your  pastor  during  the  Civil  "War,  and  am  inevitably 
carried  back  to  those  eventful  times;  the  thrilling  scenes  we 
witnessed  in  this  meeting  house,  when  one  after  another  of  our 
young  men,  the  flower  of  our  families,  came  forward  and  signed 
their  names  to  the  roll  of  volunteers  for  their  country's  service. 
I  call  to  mind  the  gathering  of  the  citizens  around  the  liberty- 
pole  on  South  Hadley  Green,  when  the  town  clerk  read  the  oath, 
and,  with  uplifted  hands,  we  all  renewed  our  allegiance  to  the 
Constitution  and  Government  of  the  United  States ;  the  camp  at 
Greenfield,  where  I  was  requested  to  present  a  sword  to  Lieut. 


SOUTH  HADLEY  FALLS  231 

Williams  (of  South  Hadley) ;  the  mustering  of  the  young  sol- 
diers in  the  east  gallery  of  this  house  on  the  Sabbath  before 
their  departure,  and  the  words  of  farewell  and  Godspeed  from 
the  balcony  of  the  hotel." 

These  words  revive  the  memory  of  earlier  conflicts,  the 
French  and  Indian  wars,  and  the  Revolution,  when  there  was 
neither  newspaper  nor  telegraph  here,  and,  only  at  rare  inter- 
vals, a  letter  to  bring  news  from  the  battlefield. 

The  flight  of  years  has  wrought  great  changes  in  our  town. 
The  deathknell  of  the  old-fashioned  fireplace  was  sounded,  when, 
in  every  room  save  one  in  that  first  seminary  building,  Mary 
Lyon  installed  a  little  Franklin  stove,  which  had  already  begun 
to  supersede  the  big  back  log. 

Many  interesting  incidents  have  been  related  to  the  writer 
of  the  fraternal  friendships  which  existed  in  families  at  that 
time.  There  was  the  story  of  the  two  Smith  brothers,  who  owned 
separate  farms,  both  of  which  were  very  large.  Every  morning 
at  sunrise  each  went  to  the  top  of  a  hill  near  his  home,  and  the 
elder  gave  three  long  blasts  upon  a  horn,  which  told  his  listening 
brother  that  all  was  well.  The  younger  brother  returned  his 
answer  in  like  fashion.  The  custom  was  continued  for  years,  and 
at  any  failure  of  this  signal  a  messenger  instantly  was  dis- 
patched to  the  house  of  the  other. 

Now  camlet  cloak  and  homespun  suit 

No  longer  flit  from  door  to  door. 
Yet  patient  years  have  borne  their  fruit. 

In  school,  and  home,  and  church  of  yore. 
Those  days  remote,  long,  long  are  past. 

The  empty  nest  has  left  the  bough, 
A  plaything  of  the  whirling  blast; 

And  moss-grown  stones  confront  us  now. 
We  reap  the  harvest  of  their  deeds 
In  rustling  fields  along  the  lea; 
The  fruitage  of  immortal  seeds, 
The  golden  sheaves  of  liberty. 
We  pray  you,  birds,  sing  sweetly  there, 

We  bid  you,  flower-grown  meads,  to  show 
At  spring's  return  a  bloom  so  fair 
That  our  unwilling  hearts  may  know, 
'Tis  time  that  stays,  'tis  ive  who  go. 


INDEX 


Page 

Angel  of  Hadley,  The 4-6 

Apple  Trees 12,     97 

Arithmetic  50,  55,     60 

Bears 18 

Bees,  Chopping,  etc.  .18,  35-37,  196 

Bees,   Honey 33 

Bible,  The. 26,  71,  95,  118,  139,  154 

Bricks    16 

Brick   Oven 110 

Brooms    214 

Buttery  Brook 9,  203 

Canal,  The 201,  213 

Carpets 178 

Census,  The 136 

Chairs    87,  175 

Children    25-27 

Children  Catechising 172 

Churches,  South  Hadley  Falls.   220 

Clocks    179,  215 

Condit,  Eev.  Joseph.  .62,  119,  170 

Copy  Books 61 

Courtship    16,     23 

Crows   211 

Dame    School 51 

Deacons    112,  114,  148 

Draper,  Josiah 44,  55-57,  153 

Dress    180 

Dwight,  Dr.  Elihu 175 

Eeling   205-207 

Election  Day 213,  217 

Emergency  Call,  An 154 

Examination    Day 63 

Fires,  Kindling  of 177 

Fisheries    202,  203 

Fish  House 206,  208 

Forks    22 

Funeral  Customs 29-33 

Geography 50,     51 

Goffe,  General 4-6 

Halfway  Covenant,  The .  3,  101,  105 

Harrison's  Campaign 217 

Harvard  College 140,  142 

Hanks,  Rev.  Roswell 79,     91 

Hessians,  Farming  of 155 


Page 

Highways 14,    180,  203 

Hilliard's  Knob 50,  184 

Holland,  J.  G 24,  198 

Home  Lots 8-11 

Houses    11,  15-17,     81 

Hungry  March,  The 127 

Ice  Houses 40,     41 

Independence    of    the    United 

States    152,  164 

Indians,  The 121 

Informers,  The 55,  66,  143 

Ink   49 

Labor  Troubles 157 

Lafayette,  Marquis  de 195-197 

Land,  Divisions  of 7-15 

Land    Grants 7,     13 

Lexington,  Call  of 146 

Libraries 182-184 

Lubbers'  Hole 8,  199 

Lyon,  Mary 75-93 

Matches    178 

Meeting   Houses 

94,  95,  114,  115,  119 

Meeting  Houses,  Seating  of  .98,  111 

Mighill,  Samuel 53-57 

Millerites   193-195 

Missionary  Societies 165 

Mobbing    104,  144 

Montague,     Peter,    Houses    of 

11,  16,  19,     81 

Mormonism    191-193 

Mountain  House,  The 196 

Mourning 143 

Nails,  Making  of 158 

N"ames   158,  185 

Noonhouses    174 

Pantaloons   181,  213 

Parsonages 78,  96,  109 

Pass  of  Thermopylffi 199 

Pendergrass,  Peter 147 

Peperidge  Tree 21 

Pins 176,  177 

Pioneers  6,7,     12 

Post   Office 41,  148 


Page 

Potatoes    54,     97 

Pouting  Pen 114,  117 

Preston,    John 15,     33 

Punishments 52-69 

Rate  Day Ill 

Rattlesnakes 17 

Rawson,  Rev.  Grindall 

95-103,  105-107 

Rock  Ferry 191,  195,  198 

Salt  Mill.' 219 

Schools    48-69 

Seminary  Mt.  Holyoke 79-92 

Seminary  Receptions 89 

Shad  and  Salmon. 203-205,  208-210 

Shay's   Rebellion 70,  162 

Sickness    112 

Singing    43-47,     82 

Slaves 158,    167-169 

Sleep,  Hours  of 24 

Sluggard   Company 208,  209 

Smith,    Chileab 102-105 

Spelling   Schools 64,     65 

Spatterdashes 180 

Spinning   19,     20 

Spinning,  on  Sunday 148 

Stamp  Act 136 

Steamboat 211-213 


Page 

Stoves 98,   172-174 

Sturgeon 207 

Sunday    Schools 166 

Superstitions   30-33,  101 

Taxes    139 

Tea   140-143 

Tea  Parties 21 

Temperance  169 

Texts 13,  118,  119,  183 

Tinware   214 

Tories 143,  145,  147,  150,  160 

Tunnel,  The 49 

Underground    Railroad 169 

Visiting  Day 171 

Wages 43,   65,   156,  158 

Warrant,   The 141 

Washing   Day 21 

Weddings    28,  101 

Witches  and  Ghosts 186,  210 

Wood  Day 109 

Woodbridge,    Dorothy 189 

Woodbridge,  Enos.  .'.  .186-189,  215 
Woodbridge,  Rev.  John 

107-112,  137,  148 

Woodbridge,  Col.  Ruggles 

.  ..70-72,  117,  141,  146,  155,  162 
Wright,  Abby 72-75 


2990    uUl 


ACME 

BOOKBINDING  CO..  ina 

^^^   SO   1992 

100  O.M8RIDQe  STREET 
CHARL£STOWN,MASS 


